This episode is sponsored by Davwill Consulting. Emotional agility? Yep, it's needed more now than ever. Let's chat! Click HereWilliam A. Adams is an award-winning D&I innovator, engineering trailblazer, and philanthropist. After rolling out critical XML code globally in many of Microsoft's core products, he was named the first Technical Advisor to the CTO, Kevin Scott.As co-founder of the LEAP apprenticeship program – named Microsoft’s D&I Program of the Year in 2020 – William helped launch the training of more than 26 engineering cohorts around the world. Today, 98% of LEAP participants have jobs in Microsoft or other high-tech companies. His most recent collaboration is with the leadership of the U.S. Virgin Islands to establish and train a technical talent pool and build critical technology infrastructure.Early in his 30-year career in software engineering, he was one of the first Black entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and was recently profiled by the Computer History Museum. Through his company, Adamation, William developed mission-critical custom enterprise apps for Steve Jobs' NeXT computers and pioneered a network instant messaging service purchased by the CIA. He's been awarded two patents.Today, in addition to his role at Microsoft, William is the philanthropic founder of The EV3NT, a collaborative, community-based hackathon designed to use technology to address critical real-world needs. When he's not tinkering with bits and bytes, William is busy as a husband and father of three. He builds kitchen cabinets, knits, and tries to recapture the exhilaration of riding a motorcycle in India.Connect with William at:https://www.linkedin.com/in/thewilliamaadams/https://william-a-adams.com/https://twitter.com/LeapToTech/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit debcrowe.substack.com