Leonardo Williams — Mayor of Durham, NC, TedX Speaker, Entrepreneur, Pragmatist

About Leonardo

Leonardo Williams doesn’t just talk about change — he engineers it. As the Mayor of Durham, North Carolina, one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities, he has directed the execution of multiple budgets exceeding $700 million, turning bold vision into measurable results for the people he serves.Williams’ journey is a testament to what conviction and community look like in action. Before taking office, he and his wife built a successful restaurant and brand business from the ground up — learning firsthand how to create opportunity, lead teams, and earn trust in a competitive marketplace. That entrepreneurial foundation became the engine behind his approach to governance: practical, people-centered, and unafraid of scale.Under his leadership, Durham has seen transformational investment — including the successful passage of Housing and Infrastructure bonds totaling over $200 million, and the creation of the Bull City Future Fund, a $1 million initiative directly supporting youth-serving organizations across the city. He is leading one of North Carolina’s most comprehensive homeless and violence reduction strategies, setting a new standard for how cities respond to their most urgent human challenges.Mayor Williams has also led at the state level, serving as the head of the North Carolina Foundation for Public School Children — the state’s largest foundation dedicated to public education. His commitment to young people extends to the classroom as well: he is a guest lecturer at the Harvard University Kennedy School, where he brings the unfiltered lessons of city leadership to the next generation of public servants and policy makers.In 2024, Williams was personally invited by a United States Presidential Candidate to address the nation at the Democratic National Convention — a recognition of not just his record, but his voice. A voice that resonates across stages, institutions, and communities ready to build something greater. His emergence as a thought leader and public speaker marks a formidable impact on our society: sharing the hard-won lessons of governance, entrepreneurship, and leadership with audiences around the world.