Erica Williams Simon

Erica Williams Simon is an award-winning narrative strategist, author, creative and interviewer. As the founder and former Head of Snapchat’s Creator’s Lab, Erica creates content and conversations that help a diverse, digital native generation tell new stories about “who we are and how we want to live”. Her work incorporates elements of her multi-industry career to surface countercultural wisdom for work, life and social impact.

Through her company Sage House, a strategic content, experience and consulting firm Erica works with clients like Spotify, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and countless creative partners to bring big ideas for cultural and social impact to life. She is also host of the popular podcast The Call with Erica.

Previously, Simon worked as Senior Editor and Creative Director of Upworthy.com and as a guest columnist for TIME.com. Before moving to a career in media, she spent nearly a decade in Washington D.C. power circle’s at the nation’s premier progressive think tank, Center for American Progress, and the country’s oldest civil and human rights coalition, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, developing innovative Millennial engagement programs on key social issues. For her social impact work, Simon was named one of Politico’s Top 50 Politicos to Watch, an NAACP’s 40 under 40, a world Economic Forum Global Shaper, and an Aspen Institute Ideas Fellow.

Her first book, You Deserve the Truth, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2019 and puts the power of story back into the hands of the people, exploring how to engage with the dominant cultural narratives of our time to build an authentic life worth living.

Simon received the O magazine Women Rule Leadership Award has also been featured in Harvard Business Review, The Washington Post, Huffington Post, and ESSENCE magazine. Simon, a self-proclaimed “armchair theologian” and preacher’s daughter for life, serves on the board of ColorofChange.org and NPR’s Generation Listen.