Emmanuel “Noble” Williams

“I believe that every child should be able to live their life without a mask on. I lived for so long with a mask on for protection, but when I took it off I realized the only time that I could truly be myself and enjoy life was without it. The longer I have my mask off, the more beauty I’m able to share with the world.”

Noble Williams is a leader, activist, and creative with over a decade of Restorative Justice Circle Keeper and facilitation experience across a variety of environments including jails, prisons, universities, public schools, courts, corporate entities, and community settings. He has a special passion for working with youth and in helping men break free from the confines of toxic masculinity. He currently serves as the Transformational Prison Project’s Senior Director of Programming and is responsible for program development, program management, and data collection.

As a proud returning community member, Noble understands that lived experience is often overlooked in academic settings and is a champion of creating more inclusive and accessible educational spaces. He has helped teach courses on restorative justice, transformative justice, and abolition at both Columbia University and Harvard University, and was a recent guest speaker at MIT. In addition to teaching, he is a powerful orator and has spoken on panels for the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Transportation (DOT), and the National Association of Community and Restorative Justice (NACRJ). He currently serves on the Advisory Board for R&R Head Labs, a barbershop employed entirely by system-impacted community members. He was also recently selected as a 2024 Ambassador with Represent Justice, where he will further explore his passion for producing and storytelling and create a short film. Through his activism, community work, and art, Noble hopes to empower others to remove their masks and embrace authenticity, vulnerability, and healing.