Brenda Williams-Butts

Director of Community Engagement & Audience Development
WNYC Radio, New York City

Growing up in New York City’s tough South Bronx community, Brenda Williams-Butts saw no limits to what she could accomplish. “I always knew that I could because of my parents, Joseph and Shirley Weeks.

They were my delight, my insight and my inspiration,” says Williams-Butts. Indeed, they laid the foundation for their daughter’s professional success that began with her first job at the United Negro College Fund, followed by more than 10 years in brokerage houses on Wall Street and two
years as an entrepreneur presiding over her own executive search firm.

Currently, Williams-Butts is the director of Community Engagement & Audience Development for WNYC Radio, the country’s largest public radio station with more than 1.2 million listeners each week.

In this role, she has brought more diverse voices and staff to the station and substantially increased listenership. She has spent 13 years in all with the station, during which she spearheaded or served as the guiding force behind its outreach, on-air content diversification and internal diversity initiatives for recruitment and retention. Prior to WNYC, she worked at Sesame Workshop.

“I want to be remembered for touching the lives of others and making changes,” says Williams-Butts. Beyond WNYC, she does precisely that in her strong commitment to her church and community.

She is a volunteer with the Key Family Member Program for the 76 ARS Squadron at McGuire Air Force Base. She also serves as a mentor for Rubies and Righteousness, an organization dedicated to the young girls in her church.

Williams-Butts holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from New Hampshire College.