Teri Williams is the owner, chief operating officer and president of OneUnited Bank, the largest Black-owned bank in USA.
At her bank, she states that she is responsible for the implementation of the Bank’s strategic initiatives, as well as day to day operations.
Williams started her journey as a bank owner in 1995 when she purchased her first bank with her partner Kevin Cohee. In the ensuing years, the duo would buy three more banks and roll them into OneUnited.
Under Williams’ leadership, OneUnited Bank has consolidated the four banks and launched a digital platform to create a powerful national brand supported by innovative products and services to close the racial wealth gap.
She has more than 30 years of financial services expertise from premier American institutions such as the Bank of America and American Express, where she was one of the youngest Vice Presidents.
Teri Williams holds an M.B.A. with honors from Harvard University and a B.A. with distinctions in economics from Brown University.
She serves as Chairman of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA) in Boston and is on the board of the 79th Street Corridor in Miami.
She also serves as Chair of the Urban Initiative Task Force of the Miami-Dade Beacon Council. Ms. Williams serves on the Board of CCC Intelligent Solutions (CCCS) which powers digital transformation for the insurance and automotive industries with Al, IoT, and workflow solutions. Ms. Williams has received numerous notations and awards for her contribution to urban communities including from the Urban League, NAACP and the National Black MBA Association.
In 2022, she was selected by Forbes for its 50 over 50 list of women in financial services.
Williams says that she has come to understand and appreciate that she owes her success and influence in the financial industry to her great grandmother.
“When someone asked me how I came to own the largest Black-owned bank in the country, I used to respond with a summary of my resume. First, I went to Brown University, then worked for Bank of America in New York City before heading off to Harvard Business School. After HBS, I worked in marketing for American Express, becoming one of the youngest vice presidents in its history. I met my business partner, now husband, and ultimately, we did a rollup strategy, buying four Black-owned banks that became OneUnited Bank. End of story, or so I thought,” she recently stated in a narration she wrote for Fortune.
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“One day, an artist who was unsatisfied with my answer asked me repeatedly, “But who are you? And how did you get here?” After being pushed to reflect, I finally recognized that more meaningful than my resume was that I am the great-grandchild of Ma Honey or Annie Coachman, also known as Miss Honey to everyone outside of family.”
Teri Williams stated that her great grandmother owned a lot of real estate in Indiantown, Florida–apartments, homes, a barbeque pit, a juke joint, and a store where Williams worked selling sodas and penny candy.
“She was an entrepreneur and a businesswoman, before the terms were coined, in the segregated South. White folks use to come across the railroad tracks to visit her, not always with a purpose, sometimes just to sit on the porch. I knew she was admired, but didn’t realize how much, or what her impact has been on my life until many years after she passed away,” she stated.
Williams says that her goal is to close the racial wealth gap. Through OneUnited, Teri Williams has financed almost $1 billion in loans for people in low- to moderate-income communities, including Los Angeles’ South Central and Compton and Liberty City in Miami.