Henry Williams

Co-Founder and Co-Director

The Gravel Institute

Biography

Henry is a junior at Columbia University studying computer science-mathematics and philosophy. He is the Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board for The Gravel Institute, a 501c3 political non-profit dedicated to combating right-wing disinformation online. He led Former Senator Mike Gravel’s 2020 campaign for president to shift the dialogue in the Democratic Party on war, democracy, and justice. He was selected as a 2019 Data Science Institute Scholar, studying recommedation systems for education at EdLab, Teacher’s College. He has published peer-reviewed research in computational biology, and previously reached the international level in applied math and robotics competitions.

Interests

Economic History
Theories of Technology
Social & Political Philosophy

Education

BA in Computer Science-Mathematics + Philosophy, 2023
Columbia University
High School, 2018
The Masters School

Experience

Contrary Fellow

Contrary

Apr 2021 – Present Manhattan, NY

Selected to join the Contrary Fellowship in spring 2021.

Growth Analyst

The Org

Oct 2020 – May 2021 Manhattan, NY

Worked closely with Head of Growth at fast-growing Sequoia Capital-backed start-up.

Co-Founder and Co-Director (Strategy and Development)

The Gravel Institute

Sep 2020 – Present Manhattan, NY

Leading and building a novel progressive think tank combining policy research and campaigning with a social media community and educational video content. Created online fundraising infrastructure, video team, and relationships with major left nonprofits. Grew YouTube channel to over 300,000 subscribers.

Communications Fellow

Jacobin Magazine

Sep 2019 – Feb 2020 Manhattan, NY

Managed online presence for leading voice of the American Left.

Data Science Institute Scholar

EdLab, Teachers College

May 2019 – Jul 2019 Columbia University, Manhattan, NY

Researched the application of data science techniques to improve self-directed learning opportunities. Only freshman to be selected for the program. Submitted a paper to the AERA 2020 Education Conference.

Chief of Staff

Mike Gravel 2020

Mar 2019 – Aug 2019 Manhattan, NY

Planned, architected, and led Former Senator Mike Gravel’s campaign to shift the debate on war, democracy, and justice in the 2020 Democratic Primary:

Designed Twitter strategy which attracted 70k donors, 300 million engagements, and 130k followers, as well as 25k Instagram followers.
Qualified the candidate for the July Democratic Primary Debates through grassroots donors. Got the candidate to 1% and above in major national polls.
Wrote and directed a political ad which got 500k views.
Built a staff of 100+, wrote a comprehensive progressive policy platform.
Met with multiple Presidential Candidates.
Worked with Candidate Marianne Williamson on an unprecedented co-fundraising deal.
Profiled in the New York Times.
Covered by the Washington Post, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Guardian, Jacobin, Current Affairs, Vox, Politico, Jezebel, and many others.

Software Engineering Intern

AppNexus

Jun 2017 – Aug 2017 Flatiron District, Manhattan, NY

Worked to build and deploy business-critical optimization analysis software as a containerized cluster of jobs. Created Docker jobs on a Kubernetes cluster for dramatic speed and reliabilty improvements.

Summer Researcher

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Jul 2016 – Sep 2016 Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY

Researched and co-wrote a paper on skew as a statistical measure in computational biology, accepted at ICIBM 2019, published in BMC Bioinformatics. Found signifigant results in TCGA human cancer datasets and did analysis using the R language.

Software Engineering Intern

BirchBox

Jun 2016 – Jul 2016 Flatiron District, Manhattan, NY

Fixed and deployed a global warehouse logistics platform in Java, adding new functionality. Worked with international teams in London and Spain to roll out and test system.

Software Logistics Intern

AppNexus

Jun 2015 – Jul 2015 Flatiron District, Manhattan, NY

Created software in Python for managing JIRA bug tracking and project management. Other projects included an automated bug index and quarterly departmental dashboards.

Accomplishments

Top 5 International Team - Top Team in the USA

International Mathematical Modeling Challenge Aug 2018

Meritorious award in the International Mathematical Modeling Challenge 2018 (IMMC). Top team in the United States.

See certificate

1st Place Winner

MoMATH Hackathon Aug 2017

Created a Python library for visualizing control systems, and a webapp for explaining the importance of the mathematics of control theory through the lens of a PID controller and self-driving cars.

Honor Award

CREATE U.S. Open Robotics Nationals Apr 2017

Top individual team award at robotics nationals.

See certificate

Press

American Prospect Interview

A Q&A with Henry Williams, college student and presidential-campaign operative

Jezebel Profile

The ‘Great Man’ President Is a Lie

New York Times Profile

The retired senator Mike Gravel gave two young fans his Twitter password and permission to campaign in his name. It might be a stunt — or the future of politics.

Jacobin Article

Mike Gravel’s hellraising efforts against US imperialism have had real, lasting effects. The public should get to hear his views in the 2020 Democratic primary debates.

Guardian Article

Fueled by the ambition of two teenagers, ex-Alaska senator Mike Gravel is running for president with the explicit intention of entering Democratic debates