Shanté Williams

Dr. Shanté Williams is a venture capitalist, inventor and intellectual property strategist who trained as an experimental therapeutics translational scientist before moving into investing. She is Founding Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Willohsen Capital, a governance-first investment management firm for foundations and donor-advised funds, and remains CEO of Black Pearl Global Investments, a roughly $25M health-equity venture fund, as well as a general partner of Equilibrium Impact Ventures.

She previously served as general director of Opera Carolina (2024–2026), where she was the first woman and first person of color to lead the company, was an adjunct professor at Wingate University, and founded RW Capital Partners; she is also the author of 'Black Angels Among Us' and holds a BS in chemistry from Winston-Salem State University, a PhD from The Ohio State University and an MBA from Queens University of Charlotte.