Elizabeth Omilami

Elisabeth Williams-Omilami (born February 18, 1951) is an American human rights activist and an actress. Life and career Born in Atlanta, Williams-Omilami is the daughter of activist Hosea Williams and Georgia State Representative Juanita T. Williams. Williams-Omilami young life was spent with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. After graduating from college, she created the People's Survival Theatre, producing a season of five shows per year. People's Survival Theatre continued to produce shows long after Williams-Omilami's journey to New York City when her husband Afemo Omilami received a scholarship to New York University. In New York, Williams-Omilami worked as an arts administrator and executive assistant. Williams-Omilami directed and acted as much as she could, supporting her family as her husband's career grew. In 1985, Williams-Omilami left New York to return to Atlanta. While in Atlanta Williams-Omilami continued to perform on stage and in film and television. Williams-Omilami graduated from Hampton University with a BA in Theatre. Activism Williams-Omilami's parents brought her along on Civil Rights marches and movements across the South since she was young. During the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Williams-Omilami attended boarding school to Wasatch Academy in Utah where she was the only African-American student. Williams-Omilami had worked for over 15 years in the background of her father's Hosea Feed The Hungry and Homeless efforts, and upon his passing in November 2000 became the organization's CEO, expanding the organization from a budget of $200,000 to over $1.5 million. Williams-Omilami worked to provide programs that would meet the basic needs of the working poor and homeless along a continuum of care leading to self-sufficiency. Williams-Omilami expanded these programs from four months to year-round services and established medical clinics, clothing distribution, barber and beautician services, children's educational programs, and home delivery of over 22,000 dinners per year. Williams-Omilami has spoken and toured worldwide for several international relief efforts in places like the Philippines, where she has founded and operates a school for the underprivileged children of Mindanou, and Haiti and Uganda, where she sponsors several orphanages.