Oracle VP Jason Williamson on Power and Privilege

Today’s guest is Jason Williamson, Vice President of Oracle for Startups and Oracle for research. Jason and Dr Debby have a lot in common – they both went to UVA, they’re both basketball players, they both love analytics in sports, and they have a passion for elevating historically underrepresented communities.  They talk about all of that on the show today, plus how a misison trip led Jason to understand his privilege – and his responsibility to influence.

Transcript

Voiceover: Welcome to If You Only Knew, brought to you by The Diversity Movement, where Dr Debby Stroman talks race and diversity in sports with some of the most influential leaders at the intersection of athletics and racial equity.

Today’s guest is Jason Williamson, Vice President of Oracle for Startups and Oracle for research. Jason and Dr Debby have a lot in common – they both went to UVA, they’re both basketball players, they both love analytics in sports, and they have a passion for elevating historically underrepresented communities.  They talk about all of that on the show today, plus how Jason’s interaction with Romani culture gave him an understanding of his privilege and responsibility.

Here’s your host, UNC professor, entrepreneur, speaker, consultant, and advocate, Dr Debby Stroman.

Dr Debby Stroman: Welcome to If You Only Knew with Dr. Debby Stroman. I’m very, very blessed and honored to be with a dear friend, Jason Williamson, the vice president for startups and research at Oracle. Jason, thank you so much for joining me today. Let’s talk about where it all got started for you. What brought you to sports at a young age? Any role models in your family or your neighborhood?

Jason Williamson: Yeah. Thanks, Dr. Stro. It’s always good to spend time with you and I’m grateful for the relationship and grateful for the opportunity to, to chat with you a little bit today. For me, it’s funny. I think my like, draw into sports is not unlike a lot of people.

You know, I, my first memories were being the younger sibling, right? And playing basketball in the backyard with my older brother who was six years older than me and his friends. And it’s funny, because it’s kind of what shaped me in my like, short basketball journey. Because you know, when you’re the younger brother, if you want to play at all, you’re going to have to be super scrappy.

Full Episode Transcript

If You Only Knew…with Dr. Debby Stroman is edited and produced by Earfluence, and brought to you by The Diversity Movement.

Intro and outro music provided by Soteria Shepperson.

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