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Executive Director, Reelworld Screen Institute
Tonya Williams is an award-winning actress, producer, arts executive, and activist whose career in the entertainment industry spans more than fifty years. An Officer of the Order of Canada, she has received some of the nation’s highest honours, including the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, induction into Canada's Walk of Fame, the Canadian Screen Awards Changemaker Award, the ACTRA Award of Excellence, a WIFT-T Crystal Award, two NAACP Image Awards, the Legacy Awards Visionary Award, and numerous other honours recognizing her contributions to the arts and social impact.
Tonya is internationally recognized for her nineteen-year role as Dr. Olivia Winters on the iconic television series The Young and the Restless. She is also the Founder and Executive Director of Reelworld Screen Institute, as well as the founder of the Reelworld Film Festival and Reelworld Foundation. She established Reelworld in 2000 to address the lack of opportunity, access, and inclusion for Black, Indigenous, Asian, South Asian, and People of Colour within Canada’s screen industries.
Executive Director, Reelworld Screen Institute
Tonya Williams is an award-winning actress, producer, arts executive, and activist whose career in the entertainment industry spans more than fifty years. An Officer of the Order of Canada, she has received some of the nation’s highest honours, including the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, induction into Canada's Walk of Fame, the Canadian Screen Awards Changemaker Award, the ACTRA Award of Excellence, a WIFT-T Crystal Award, two NAACP Image Awards, the Legacy Awards Visionary Award, and numerous other honours recognizing her contributions to the arts and social impact.
Tonya is internationally recognized for her nineteen-year role as Dr. Olivia Winters on the iconic television series The Young and the Restless. She is also the Founder and Executive Director of Reelworld Screen Institute, as well as the founder of the Reelworld Film Festival and Reelworld Foundation. She established Reelworld in 2000 to address the lack of opportunity, access, and inclusion for Black, Indigenous, Asian, South Asian, and People of Colour within Canada’s screen industries.