Growing up on the mean streets of Chicago, Speaker Melissa “Lissa Rose” Williams, knows adversity first hand. After enduring the death of her father to a vehicular accident and later being sexually abused at the age of 9, Melissa used school as a coping mechanism.
Always a scholar that loved to read and write, Melissa joined every extracurricular activity the school offered, while maintaining straight A’s.
Her accomplishments includes being inducted into the National Junior Beta Club, serving as Clarinet Section Leader in the Marching Band, winning the F.A. Douglass Academy Spelling Bee, Science Fair, and Academic Bowl. She finished out as the Salutatorian of the class.
As an adult, Melissa battled homelessness and domestic violence, while going on to pursue degrees in Education from Western Governors University, Business from Kaplan University, and Nursing from Gwinnett Technical College.
Currently, Melissa serves as Pastor with Life Church Dallas/Ft Worth, works as a Motivational Speaker & on-air radio personality for 99.9 The Beat Albuquerque. She also was a cast member on the hit television show, “Women on the Rise Atlanta”. Pastor Melissa is an entrepreneurial powerhouse in the real estate and direct marketing industries. She has been invited to speak for Educated Girls Rock, The Salvation Army, The Phenomenal “I AM” Women’s Conference, and many other organizations/corporations. She is a recurring guest on Nashville’s 92Q FM, has spoken alongside rapper David Banner during his GodBox Lecture Series, and served on the political campaigns for Latarsha Holden for Atlanta Councilwoman District 11, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, and Stacy Abrams for Georgia Governor.
