Erica Williams Simon

ERICA WILLIAMS SIMON is an award-winning narrative strategist, author, creative and social entrepreneur. As the founder and former head of Snapchat’s Creator’s Lab, Simon creates conversations that help a diverse, digital native generation tell new stories about “who we are and how we want to live”. Previously, Simon worked as senior editor and creative director of Upworthy.com, and as a columnist for TIME.com. Before moving to a career in media, she spent nearly a decade in Washington D.C. power circle’s at the nation’s premier progressive think tank, Center for American Progress, and the country’s oldest civil and human rights coalition, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.  For her social impact work, Simon was named one of Politico’s Top 50 Politicos to Watch, an NAACP’s 40 under 40, a world Economic Forum Global Shaper, and an Aspen Institute Ideas Fellow. Her first book, You Deserve the Truth, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2019, and puts the power of story back into the hands of the people, exploring how to engage with the dominant cultural narratives of our time to build an authentic life worth living. Simon received the O magazine Women Rule Leadership Award and has also been featured in Harvard Business Review, The Washington Post, Huffington Post, and ESSENCE magazine. Simon, a self-proclaimed “armchair theologian” and preacher’s daughter for life, serves on the  board of ColorofChange.org and NPR’s Generation Listen. @missewill