By Jonathan Gramling

When I came to TruStage — formerly CUNA Mutual Group — Terrance Williams, the first African American to head the company, had just assumed his duties the day before. There were still pictures to be hung on the walls. There were a couple of boxes here and there. But Williams was unfazed as he invited me to speak. He has some of that Southern charm, contained in the deep and strong values that his parents imbued in him during his childhood in the Charleston, South Carolina area.

“My mother was an elementary school teacher,” Williams said. “My father worked construction. They both instilled within us at a very early age this notion of ‘You can accomplish and do anything in this world.’ Think about it. I grew up in the South. My parents endured the entirety of the civil rights struggle and yet they imbued within me, ‘You can do anything. But there are some things required on your part. There is preparation. There’s dedication. There’s education. There’s doing the right thing.’ And while those things sound somewhat trite — as a kid I didn’t get it, I didn’t buy into it — as an adult, I looked back on what was kind of poured into me as a kid and it shaped who I am as a man, as a leader, everything. I didn’t understand this as I was growing up.”

Williams was also unaware that his parents were prominent in the African American community, his father, a church elder and his mother a teacher.

“They were pillars of my community, although I didn’t know that at the time,” Williams recalled. “I share the story often that when there was an issue in our community — if you had marital problems, if you had a wayward child, if you had a relative who was sick — everyone came to Elder Terry to talk with them about guidance. I learned without even trying to the importance of making a difference and paying it back. I credit my parents with who I am. They are still
with me and I am blessed. They are 85 and 81 right now. They are retired obviously. I just moved them five months ago down to Florida in a community in Florida and enjoying life.”

Williams’ father also taught him some hard lessons.

“My dad ran heavy equipment and helped pave roads,” Williams stated. “He tells the story that every highway in the Southeast, he’s paved it. One summer