Scott Williams helps businesses grow.
Scott Williams is a global brand and hospitality executive whose career bridges creativity, commerce, and culture. A trusted partner to CEOs and boards, he has led, from the C-suite, marketing, creative, and development strategies for some of the world’s most influential hospitality and media companies—shaping brands that people don’t just recognize, but remember.
Following years working in repertory companies as distinguished as Steppenwolf, Berkeley Rep, and the American Conservatory Theater, Scott transitioned to media, joining HBO, ESPN, and CBS—crafting storytelling that moved audiences, shaped emotion through design and language, and built narratives that endured. Those experiences became the foundation for a global career leading brand expression on an enterprise scale.
At Starwood Hotels & Resorts, he served as Chief Creative Officer Worldwide, overseeing more than 900 properties across 100 countries and directing the visual and verbal vocabulary of all creative marketing. He helped bring to life the Westin Heavenly Bed, the St. Regis brand, and elevated Starwood Preferred Guest into a global loyalty icon before Starwood was sold to Marriott.
As Chief Marketing Officer at Morgans Hotel Group, he positioned the company’s boutique hotels as cultural stages for design, fashion, art, and music—most memorably through the acclaimed “The World Needs Interesting” campaign. Later, as Chief Creative and Marketing Officer for Commune Hotels & Resorts, he led the repositioning of Joie de Vivre, Thompson Hotels, and Alila, and launched Tommie, blending artistry and strategy in ways that made the brands resonate around the world and eventually led to the company’s sale to Hyatt.
He then became President of The Nantucket Project, a modern ideas company that blended live experience, storytelling, and social impact. Equal parts think tank and media studio, it gathered leaders, artists, and changemakers to explore what it means to live and lead with purpose. He later served as Chief Development & Brand Officer for Main Street Hospitality, where he guided new brand launches, oversaw a landmark redevelopment, and produced hundreds of cultural events that brought community and creativity together.
Through his advisory firm, Scott continues to collaborate with CEOs and founders on brand architecture, development and growth, and experience strategy, helping organizations find the emotional center of their story and express it with clarity and power.
Beyond business, Scott has long been committed to teaching and service. He has advised graduate students in the School of Visual Arts’ Master’s program in Branding for over a decade, is a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and has served on multiple nonprofit boards, including as President of the Red Ribbon Foundation for AIDS. He currently co-chairs the Program Committee of the Harvard Club of New York City.
Scott holds a BA from the University of Washington, an MFA from the American Conservatory Theater, and a GMP from Harvard Business School in 2002.