Actress Malinda Williams, Recognized For Films Like ‘Soul Food’ And More, Now Champions STEM Initiatives For Women At HBCUs

Well-known for her career in entertainment, Malinda Williams is now dedicating time to uplifting women in technology.

The Pivot

Many may recognize Malinda Williams for her work as an actress, which includes credits in shows such as “The Cosby Show,” “Sister, Sister,” “Moesha,” and films like “Soul Food” and “The Wood.”

She had been booking gigs for more than 30 years, yet she encountered a period of stagnation during which work became scarce. Money management had always been easy for her, which was helpful when it was time to stretch her earnings, Williams shared in an interview with AFROTECH™ . Eventually, she had to move to New Jersey and ventured into a “difficult” period, which also reignited a new area of interest.

“I set out on a continuation of my spirit spiritual journey, but I also went to the bookstore, and that’s where I find a lot of my spiritual material, and a book called ‘HTML For Dummies’ fell off the shelves,” she told AFROTECH™. “I had tinkered around a little bit with technology. I am an engineer at heart. My dad is an engineer, and my mom is a creative. So I think I have an equal amount of both of them within me.”

Williams continued, “And I bought this book, and I started teaching myself how to code. I taught myself about four different programming languages at the time, which was about 15 years ago. So there were no modular programs that allowed us to just kind of stack, drag, and drop. You had to know the code. You had to know how to build using these coding languages, and I learned that.”

Mission To Empower Women

This prompted Williams to build websites for her peers for free. Being self-taught in her newfound skills made her feel empowered. In the changing landscape in media and entertainment, she also saw an opportunity in technology around 2010. With the support of her friends and family, Williams moved back to Los Angeles, CA, with a renewed mindset and calling.

“When I go back, I’m going back different. I’m going to create women’s empowerment platforms, products, and opportunities, particularly for women in my community,” she explained. “And I’m going to share with my entertainment community that, ‘Hey, this thing is about to change, and we need to change too.’ We need to change how we look at content, how we create content, how we know content is going to be distributed across all these new channels, which means our money is going to be distributed across all these new channels as well. So that’s basically where the seed was planted.”

Arise And Shine Foundation Inc.

Williams first launched a channel on YouTube , the primary platform she used to learn to code. She recognized that YouTube was also helpful for many others, so she brainstormed ways she could leverage the online video-sharing platform. This led her into hair and beauty content, which aligned with her cosmetology license.

“I amassed a pretty decent following on YouTube, just making hair videos… When you make that shift, when you make that change, when you take that leap, everything starts falling into place,” she told AFROTECH™ .

In 2023, Williams launched the Arise And Shine Foundation Inc. alongside her sisters Leslie Williams-Dunn (founding board member) and Lisa D. Williams-Sorensen (founding board member, guest relations).

The affinity for sisterhood is reflected in the Arise And Shine Foundation , which exists to connect and educate underserved and underrepresented women and girls, according to the nonprofit’s website. Among its efforts is a Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) coding boot camp.

“As a successful actor, people didn’t wanna hear my story of adversity. They don’t wanna know I know how to code or build websites,” she said. “They just wanted to know when my next movie would be. ‘Yeah. That’s nice, but when’s your next TV show?’ So I really did and still do have to push through that imposter syndrome of what I think people expect from me versus what I know I’m capable of. And that’s partly what we incorporate into this HBCU coding boot camp, it’s those hard skills of learning to code but also the soft skills of pushing through adversity and showing up in the world 100% authentic.”

Arise And Shine HBCU Coding Boot Camp

The HBCU coding boot camp kicked off on May 31 at HBCU Jackson State University in Jackson, MS. Per WLBT-3, students were exposed to coding activations and workshops, including application development, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) training, and Apple programming language. In addition, students learned how to build applications.

“It went above and beyond our expectations,” Williams expressed to AFROTECH™ . “The young ladies came and blew our minds. We had things in place for them to celebrate them, to make sure they felt valued, to let them know they matter, and to let them know that this is an exchange. We’re offering you resources, but you are also a resource to us… That really built trust in a very short period during that kick-off weekend, which was subsequently followed by a four-week virtual coding camp where all the students learned to build apps. Some knew nothing about technology or coding before they got there.”

Apple also served as a partner in the boot camp, lending students devices and offering professional learning support.

Williams later mentioned, “For the students to know that such a notable organization cares enough to pour into them and to support a foundation and another organization that pours into them does wonders for their self-perception. It’s incredibly important that you have people professionally in high places who are also reaching back.”

Looking Ahead

Following the success of the inaugural kick-off, William plans to continue the program in 2025. She expects the cohort to double and potentially triple and hopes to reach more HBCUs.

“Our goal is to impact every single HBCU,” she expressed to AFROTECH™ . “Next year, we will be doing a different school. And ultimately, I want to do a tour. I want to be at an HBCU near you… I want us to hit the ground in all these different regions and be present and available for women who want to be empowered.”