Undergraduate Research Retreat 2021: Keynote

Bill White

Founder of The Greenwood Experience

greenwoodexperience@gmail.com

Today's keynote address is part of the TCC Common Book Lecture series, and is sponsored by the Dr. T. Oscar Chappelle Lectureship Fund through the Tulsa Community College Foundation. 

Bill White is an incredible visionary and entrepreneur creating and collaborating on a number of groundbreaking projects in Tulsa that has gained national and international recognition. In 2016, he developed the “Greenwood Experience” with the first iteration of many projects being the installation of the first ever pictorial depiction of the 1921 Race Massacre -Black Wall Street exhibit displayed at Schwab Hall in the Tulsa International Airport.

As the visionary that he is, The Greenwood Experience did not stop there. Bill set-out to create ways to expand the history of Greenwood in very public ways. Since 2017 designs curated by Bill has graced the Greenwood District for Tulsans and tourist, alike, to learn the history of Greenwood like never before.

He created, designed and delivered some of Tulsa’s most recognizable and iconic murals, such as: “Welcome to Greenwood”, “Remembering Black Wall Street” and the infamous “Black Wall Street Mural”. These three placemaking murals including the Greenwood Experience - Airport Exhibit has generated much revenue, countless photo opportunities, and has been the backdrop of local, national, and international magazines and live telecasts.

The Greenwood Experience has developed other ventures that encapsulates the meaning of Black Wall Street; Bill Co-founded the Greenwood Farmers and Artisan’s Market in 2017, providing a space and place to build local meaningful business opportunity for aspiring farmers and entrepreneurs.

Bill has now taken the Greenwood Experience into the tech space by co-developing 5Fist Review, an internet company, designed to crowd source Black consumers reviews in order to highlight their buying power and call attention to businesses that make the Black consumer feel valued and welcomed.

Recently, Bill was named the new Executive Director of the Historic Greenwood District Main Street. Bill holds a BA in Real Estate from Morehouse College, a BBA in Accounting from Langston University, and an Auctioneer’s Diploma from the Worldwide School of Auctioneering.

Bill’s motto: “All things are possible to him who believes.”