Ada Williams Prince is a mighty force

Status quo: No. Wakanda: Yes.

“…The look in someone’s eyes the moment they begin to recognize their own power…that’s my fuel.” - Ada Williams Prince

I had the pleasure of meeting Ada Williams Prince in the year or so right before the pandemic, which of course now feels like a lifetime ago.

She’s the director of program strategy and investment for Pivotal Ventures, a company founded by Melinda French Gates to accelerate social progress in the United States, and when we met, her presence and creative energy filled the room.

Last fall Ada wrote in Inside Philanthropy about the urgent need to invest in women and girls of color; the article is an excellent example of how women leaders can and should integrate their authentic voice into articles about issues that matter to them, rather that merely advocating in dry, jargon-filled professional speak.

If you want to get a sense of what it looks like to have a career devoted to the greater good, including tremendous advocacy on behalf of refugee women, check out Ada’s LinkedIn profile. Fun fact: The first professional experience she lists is at KCTS-9, Seattle’s PBS station, and she worked there at around the same time that I was working as an editor at PBS.org. Sometime we’ll have to bond over how everyone probably thought we both worked at NPR even though we worked at PBS and no, they aren’t the same thing… but I digress.

Without further ado, on with the show! Meet Ada Williams Prince, who is a mighty force, indeed.

Ada Williams Prince sits at a desk in a sunny office, resting her chin on her hand

How would you complete this sentence? “I am on a mission to…”

... unleash the full power and influence of women and girls of color — as leaders, visionaries, and architects for our collective future.

And when that mission gets tiring — how do you refill your tank?

I try to spend time with women and girls in the moments they feel seen. Anyone doing direct service or support work on the ground floor has seen the look in someone’s eyes the moment they begin to recognize their own power…that’s my fuel.

It’s less exhilarating, but also important, to see long-time leaders recognize their need to let go of old, status-quo mindsets and processes for the sake of equity.

You wrote in Inside Philanthropy that, “There is some — though not enough — funding available for both racial and gender equality, but the ‘default’ person of color that funders imagine is usually a man, and the ‘default’ woman is usually white. These biases, unconscious or not, leave a huge gap where investments in women and girls of color should be.” The article shares what Pivotal Ventures and its partners are doing to close that gap…what would you emphasize for my readers?

The most important thing we’re doing as funders is with processes that don’t center around our organizational norms and traditions, and that instead place resources and trust directly into the hands of women of color.

What are some examples of books, movies, podcasts, or TV shows that you think are doing a good job of representing the experiences of women and girls of color? Things that leave you feeling like, “More of this, please”?

Anyone who knows me knows I have to shout out Ryan Coogler and the Black Panther franchise. My team is unofficially (but officially) known as Team Wakanda. They’ve created a world built around afrofuturism and the strength of women in a world largely untouched by colonialism or toxic masculinity. Even when the Black Panther was a man, the story largely evolved around power and leadership of women — as is often the case in our companies, families, organizations and the world.

Tell me about a woman you deeply admire, and why. She can be someone you know, or someone you don’t know.

Fannie Lou Hamer is an underappreciated hero for me. I have no idea what she felt inside, but on the outside, she spoke with profound confidence, authenticity and urgency on issues of deep importance — in rooms where she was told she didn’t belong. She was an outsider, even amongst her fellow civil rights activists, yet she managed to stand firmly throughout her life and career, speaking on behalf of largely silenced people. She was a survivor. Talk about “goals.”

What are 1-2 things you’d really like to make sure my readers know about?

Reject the status quo — in your life, in your field of expertise, in your country, in the world. We can make the world better, fairer, and more reflective of our true and inclusive humanity.

“Reject the status quo — in your life, in your field of expertise,

in your country, in the world.” - Ada Williams Prince

Connect with Ada on social media: LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.