The actress, producer and activist has an inherent passion and drive for her work. Williams has been in Canadian households since her early days on Polka Dot Door and the 1985 television sitcom Check It Out!.

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But her role as Olivia Winters on The Young and The Restless catapulted her into a long-term career with the soap opera, making her a household name. She once received an award from the Association of Black Women Physicians because they had seen a 400% increase in Black women becoming doctors after seeing Williams portray the role on TV. 

Williams saw the power of representation, and while still on the show, she created the Reelworld Film Festival to support the development of Canadian Black and Indigenous filmmakers and artists. Much to the shock of her friends who could not understand why Williams would walk away from a lucrative acting career. 

Reelworld exploded onto the scene, and Williams’ departure from Young and the Restless was to develop her dream—the expansion of Reelworld Film Festival. It’s been an extensive journey with many accolades. And yet another has been designated by the Canadian Screen Awards, naming Williams the recipient of the 2024 Changemaker Award.       

Be hungry and the opportunities will follow

Listening to Williams recount the times her parents steadfastly supported her endeavours, it’s clear to understand where she gets it from. Her grandparents sacrificed for her parents, who witnessed the challenges first-hand and passed the same sentiment down to Williams. She believes that having a solid support system plays into your drive, determination, and hunger, and that will all lead to opportunities.  

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“I love seeing people who are hungry to get somewhere and may not have had many of the opportunities I've had. If in any way I can be someone who helps that journey for them, it makes me feel good because the people I had were my parents, especially my mother. When I think of the times she would drive me to a piano lesson and just sit in the car in the winter for the hour of my piano class, or when she drove me to ballet lessons, you know? This was not a professional housewife. She worked her job as a nurse and would take me to everything and really dedicated her life to bringing me opportunities. I see sometimes people don't come from that kind of a family, and I think it makes me want to help in some way,” says Williams.

Representation is a need

On the Black Carpet at the Legacy Awards, Williams and I discussed the lack of representation in front and behind the camera when she was coming up in the industry. She also mentioned how seeing a procession of Black media was such a beautiful thing to see because it previously never existed when she started. Williams’ parents raised her with the idea that ‘What you do affects your entire Black community.’ The statement has unquestionably resonated with her throughout her work over the years. 

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“Not only were there really no Black faces on screen, there weren't really any Indigenous ones or South Asian ones or Asian ones either. So I felt that my wins were all those communities. The Black community for sure, but all those communities because just seeing someone of color made them feel hopeful for a future that none of us could imagine. It's much better now. But I mean, we still have a long way to go.”

“But when we think back to the late 70s and what that looked like, it was so stark. Now, I go into rooms where I see other people that look like me. I used to go to events and I'd be the only person of colour in the room, on sets, in front or behind the camera. I was the only person. So I feel like change has happened, but for young people, they feel it's not happening fast enough. I am a believer that you have the advantage of time as you're older. You have this sense of time and how long it takes to make a real impact somewhere, a lasting impact. It's hard to make a lasting impact quickly,” says Williams.   

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Planting seeds with funding

And making a lasting impact is what the Reelworld Film Festival will do. Williams is seeing to it that the festival and all its branches: the Reelworld Black Entrepreneurs Program, Reelworld Hollywood Connector, and Access Reelworld—Canada’s extensive database for racially diverse talent—plants the seed for others to reap from as it flourishes. Knowing that funding is usually a single feeding, rather than a nurturing hand over time, Williams invests in the avenues that will strengthen Reelworld so when funding does run out, she’s standing on a strong foundation.

“I look at opportunities like when you're given some funding or something opens up, I don't look at that as, ‘Oh, this is how it's always going to be.’ So you have to get that out of your mind. I look at it as, ‘Wow, a crack opened.’ Someone gave me some money. How can I use that money and leverage things on my own so that when this money is gone, it has helped? It's been a jump board to something. That's the mentality. So all these opportunities, and they have been lavished upon us, especially in the last three or four years, will not continue,” says Williams.

“I get nervous when people say, ‘What are we going to do? Would it stop?’ I hope you've been leveraging in some way so that when [the funding] ends, you're not going to be where you were when it started. You should have created some sort of access for yourself. That is the beginning rung of you being more self-sufficient in whatever it is you do.”

Reelworld received $1.4 million in funding from the Black Entrepreneurs Fund, which will be distributed over three years. This funding will help seed various projects in the organization that can gain momentum and pay for themselves in the long run. “Of course, I would love money to keep coming forever, but I'm a realist. You know that's not how it's going to work. But we're going to have to navigate no matter what government is in power and no matter what the situations are. I'm in the screen industry and a lot of major changes are happening through technology and the audience is changing. So I always like to look at things as opportunities,” says Williams. 

Reelworld started as a dream and Wiliams’ dream is so vast for Reelworld, that she says they're only at 1% of what she envisioned, and she’s sometimes reluctant to share anything more than that so as not to scare anyone away with her ideas. But right now, she’s putting things in place to transition someone else to lead the way in 2025. Williams says her time is approaching for her to take a step back from the day-to-day and work on other aspects of Reelworld, but just not from the helm. 

In the meantime, Williams will continue to serve her community and build upon the legacy that she has already cemented in Canadian history. “I'm a dreamer, you know. I've always been an obsessive reader. I love stories. In them, you're always reading about heroes, and I guess I want to be the hero in my own story—challenging things that I think are not right and trying to make them better in my own way.”

Canadian Screen Week 2024, takes place from Sunday, May 26 to Saturday, June 1.