Kenny Williams

Former Chicago White Sox Executive VP and Sr. VP/GM Kenny Williams is Executive Chairman and Co-Founder for The DEI Network and CLARA. CLARA is a market-changing SaaS tool to mitigate bias in the hiring process, level the playing field for candidates, and help organizations find untapped talent.

Williams spent 42 years in Major League Baseball as a player, scout, Minor League Director, World Series-winning General Manager, and Executive Vice President. He was the first African American GM in Chicago sports history and the third in league history, and he and Jerry Manuel formed the first African American GM/Manager tandem in Major League history in 2001. Williams produced the best winning percentage by any GM in White Sox history and led the organization in moving from a 2001 Forbes Valuation of $223M to its current estimated value of $2.05B. After an impressive run, Williams is the longest-serving African American Head of Operations (Oct.2000 - Aug.2023) for any of the Big 4 North American Sports (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL) in history. (Though Williams likes to point out that the Baltimore Ravens great, Ozzie Newsome, (whom Williams admires greatly), is a close second in tenure and is first in championships with two Super Bowl wins.)

Among the awards and honors Williams has received both within and outside of sports, he considers one of the greatest to have been asked to serve on a panel at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis Tennessee alongside Martin Luther King III, Jackie Robinson’s Daughter, Sharon, Malcolm X’s Daughter, Attalah Shabazz, and Hank Aaron with Charles Ogletree as moderator. Williams was a Partner in Onyx Capital Ventures and also part owner of one of the most successful restaurants, Market Bar and Restaurant, which helped ignite the revival of Chicago’s West Loop. He is proud of his work in the community with various youth programs including “Becoming A Man”, which President Barack Obama recognized for its positive impact on the fight against urban violence.