Seth Williams will be our keynote speaker at the upcoming 2026 YPM Annual Conference on September 23-24. 

Seth was given up at birth and placed in an orphanage and then foster care. He was adopted later by a loving couple, Rufus and Imelda Williams. In 2009 he was sworn in as the district attorney in Philadelphia, the first African-American to be the head district attorney in any jurisdiction in Pennsylvania. He is a former U.S. Army officer, criminal defense attorney, civil attorney, college and law school professor, civic association and town watch leader, church lay leader, and inspector general of Philadelphia. 

He is currently the chaplain of the Philadelphia Department of Prisons’ Riverside Correctional Facility. He is responsible for the pastoral care and spiritual formation of the 650 residents and approximately 300-member correctional staff. Seth Williams is also a returned citizen.

In March 2017, he was indicted in federal court. The majority of the charges were associated with gifts from friends and family that he had failed to report while holding elective office.

During the second week of his jury trial, Mr. Williams was offered and accepted a guilty plea to one count of a violation of the Federal Travel Act. He was sentenced to five years of incarceration. He served the first five months in solitary confinement. 

While in prison, Seth Williams taught GED, workforce development, Bible study, classical poetry, beginner saxophone, and spin class. Nineteen of his students successfully earned their GED. 

Seth Williams is currently the president and CEO of Second Chance Strategies, LLC, which aims to more effectively prevent crime, reduce recidivism and rebuild lives. At Second Chance Strategies, Mr. Williams develops and manages vocational training and workforce development programs for returning citizens and the chronically unemployed. He has also developed two courses, Career Keepers and Prison Poets, that are taught inside the Philadelphia Department of Prisons to prepare individuals for release.