Courtney Williams
Jamaican-American
Co-founder + CEO, Torsh
Website: torsh.co
Jamaican-born Courtney Williams and his family moved to Brooklyn, New York when he was 13 years old. The road to entrepreneurship would not come easy, but as the saying goes, hard work always pays off. And although he attended a high school that was ranked amongst the worst in the city, Courtney would go on to study politics at Oberlin College in Ohio, followed by receiving an IV league degree from Columbia Law School – thanks to being encircled by strict parents and caring teachers.
He would then continue on a path of success by building a 15-year career in the tech industry; holding senior executive roles at companies like AOL, Time Warner, and Interactive One. But guess what he would try next – to become a world-renowned DJ. And yes, you read that right! But while pursuing this dream for five years in South Beach, Miami, Courtney’s desire to be a tech entrepreneur made him shift his energy to a new venture that would give back to education. So in 2011, he decided to launch Torsh: an ed-tech company that produces online videos that facilitate teacher observation, feedback and coaching.
Interesting fact: Courtney’s idea for Torsh came when he was reminiscing about watching his football performance on game-day tapes during his college days. He strongly believed that a similar process would be valuable for classroom teachers.
Source: Forbes