I turn rooms full of polite strangers into rooms full of people who actually see each other.
He listens. He reads the room. And then he says the thing everyone is thinking but no one will say out loud.
Not to provoke. Not to perform. But because real connection can’t start until someone names what’s actually in the room — the unspoken tension, the polite avoidance, the gap between what the mission statement says and what people actually experience.
That’s where Bill works. In the space between what everyone knows and what no one will say. Armed with a framework built from four decades of bridging worlds — from the best of Broadway to sacred ground, from jazz clubs to the White House — he gives your room permission to be honest. And from that honesty, something real begins.
Bill’s heart was on full display. The 3 C’s approach is simple yet profound. I left feeling like it is possible to make a difference.
Beth McIntyre — Workshop Participant, Coming to the Table National Gathering
“The Dalai Lama tells you what to do.
Bill C. Myers tells you how.”
Marsue MacNicolLinda Duke — Director of Education, Indianapolis Museum of Art
Bill Myers stands at the rare intersection of artistic excellence, scholarly depth, and moral purpose. His work is a gift to any institution wise enough to invite him.Dr. Janus Adams — Emmy-Winning Journalist, Historian, Author
Bill C. Myers — Fast Break to Glory, WMAQ-TV
When former high school basketball star Donnie Harris died on the streets of Indianapolis, his body lay unclaimed. No family came forward.
Bill did.
Not for cameras. Not for recognition. Because compassion isn’t a concept in a book — it’s what you do when no one else will. That story made the front page of the Indianapolis Star. For Bill, it was just the right thing to do.
Read the Full Story
Indianapolis Star · Front Page · January 2024
Donnie Harris was a high school basketball star — the fiery guard who led Broad Ripple to the semi-state. Bill was the bass player in the jazz band. Different worlds. But when the band played, Donnie would look across the court, lock eyes with Bill, and draw fuel from the music.
After graduation, their paths diverged. Bill went on to win an Emmy. Donnie struggled — with addiction, homelessness, decades of darkness on the streets of Indianapolis.
When Donnie died in 2023, his body lay unclaimed. No family came forward.
Bill did.
He stepped up to give his old classmate the dignity in death that life had denied him. The story made front-page news. For Bill, it was simply what compassion requires.
Most rooms don’t need another framework. They need someone willing to name what’s already there — the tension everyone navigates, the conversations everyone avoids, the gap between the values on the wall and the culture in the hallway.
Bill doesn’t bring a program. He brings permission.
Bill C. Myers doesn’t just talk about building bridges — he has spent a lifetime walking across them. From the jazz clubs of Indiana Avenue to the best of Broadway, from the White House to George Floyd Square, his work lives at the intersection of art, justice, and human connection.
His framework — the 3 C’s — isn’t theory. It’s the distilled wisdom of a life spent in rooms where compassion was the only currency that mattered.
Explore More
Angela Harrelson, George Floyd's Aunt · Minneapolis
"Some work happens on stages. Some happens on sacred ground."
George Floyd Square. Coming to the Table. Partnerships with leaders across the racial justice landscape. This is not performance. This is presence.
Not for a season. For fifteen years and counting.
He left the stages, the studios, the momentum. He became a live-in caregiver for his mother — fifteen years and counting — and for the last four of those years, for both parents. He cares for Georgia and Bill Sr. every day.
He knows what it means to manage someone else’s medications at midnight and forget to refill your own. To sit in a doctor’s office advocating for a parent who can’t advocate for themselves — while your own health quietly deteriorates. To watch savings disappear, career momentum vanish, and friendships fade because you can’t explain why you haven’t left the house in weeks.
He knows the silence of a house at 3 a.m. when you’re the only one awake and there is no one to call. The guilt of feeling resentment toward someone you love. The loneliness of being surrounded by family and still feeling completely alone.
He speaks from the living room floor at 2 a.m.
Georgia
Bill Sr.
63 million family caregivers. 1 in 4 American adults. Nearly half report financial hardship. 40–70% show symptoms of depression. Most do it with no training, no respite, and no one asking how they’re doing.
The world called it sacrifice. Bill calls it the education that made the 3 C’s real — compassion practiced daily, creativity demanded constantly, connection tested and deepened in ways no stage could teach.
Not sentiment. Action. The willingness to see another person’s humanity when the world tells you not to look.
When Donnie Harris died unclaimed, Bill stepped forward. Compassion isn’t a feeling — it’s what you do when no one else will. It’s the foundation of the 3 C’s because without it, nothing else holds.
The jazz musician’s instinct — to find the note that doesn’t exist yet. Creativity isn’t decoration.
An Emmy. World premieres with Harold Prince. A commissioned work performed the night before Obama’s inauguration. Creativity is survival — how we make meaning from chaos and beauty from brokenness.
Bridges, not walls. The radical act of reaching across difference and finding the common pulse beneath it all.
A Buddhist-Christian funeral that became a lesson in bridge-building. Coming to the Table. George Floyd Square. Connection isn’t erasing differences — it’s walking across them.
Personal & organizational transformation
Navigating difference with purpose
Leadership through presence
Performance meets leadership
Improvisation & collaboration
Growing Compassion, Creativity & Connection
Five independent literary awards. A framework born from four decades at the intersection of art, service, and justice. Every workshop participant receives a signed copy.
Keynotes. Residencies. Workshops. The 3 C’s framework, delivered by a life that proves it works.
Born between two worlds and shaped by a lifetime of bridging them — from the jazz legends of Indiana Avenue to George Floyd Square, from the bandstand to the boardroom, from the best of Broadway to the White House — Bill brings a framework forged in rooms where compassion, creativity, and connection weren’t optional. It’s about survival.
Workshop participants rate Bill 10/10. Audiences don’t just listen — they feel the shift.
Your campus has hosted speakers before. They came, they inspired, they left. Nothing changed. Bill stays for three days — long enough to reach six departments, challenge assumptions in the classroom, and leave your faculty and students with a framework they’ll actually use. Not a moment. A residency.
Your team has sat through the motivational speaker. The DEI training that felt like compliance. The leadership retreat everyone forgot by Monday. Bill brings something different — a framework forged in rooms where the stakes were real: George Floyd Square, the White House, the best of Broadway, fifteen years of caregiving. He doesn’t lecture about empathy. He’s lived it. Your people will feel the difference.
Not a DJ. Not a cover band. An Emmy Award-winning performer who plays wireless bass from inside your audience — backed by Bill Myers & the Trash Collectors. Jazz, storytelling, and a curated light show that turns your event into the one people talk about for years. The night nobody expected and everyone remembers.
Bill doesn't lecture from a distance. He facilitates from within. Here, co-leading the "There Are No Others" workshop at the Coming to the Table National Gathering alongside Alberder Gillespie, former Director of the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission.
Workshop participants rate Bill 10/10.
Saint Louis, 2025 · National Keynote Speaker
Three generations of Optimist members — all serving as President of Charter Club #1.
Keynote — “The 3 C’s Revolution: Bring Out the Best in Ourselves”
Official Convention Program
Bill & Bill Sr.
Convention Leadership with Bill & Bill Sr.
Past President Mark Weinsoff with Bill & Bill Sr.
Past President Dave Bruns with Bill & Bill Sr.
“Bill has synthesized the research of many scientists in the field of Positive Psychology and well-being, and explained the results in relatable and easy to understand terms. He uses real world examples to show these principles in action, and to encourage the reader to implement compassion, creativity and connection in our daily life. He has created simple practices to cultivate all the elements of well-being in daily living.”
Mark Weinsoff — Past President, Optimist International
Your team leaves with a practical framework for transformation — validated by 5 book awards and 10/10 workshop ratings. Not motivational fluff. A system that works.
New capacity for working across difference — from someone endorsed by Coming to the Table and who has lived as a bridge his entire life. Based on Bill's lived experience connecting communities others keep apart.
Insights from more than a decade of caregiving that transform how leaders approach presence, patience, and sustainable service. What happens when you step away from everything to care for others?
Performance techniques from an Emmy Award-winning actor that elevate presence, communication, and impact. Lessons from the best of Broadway, television, and stages around the world — applied to business leadership.
A new framework for collaboration, improvisation, and creating harmony from diverse voices — from someone shaped by the Indiana Avenue jazz legacy and past president of the African American Jazz Caucus.
Like a masterful jazz composition, Bill Myers weaves together heart, intellect, and spirit into something that moves you.
James Bradley Jr. — Legendary Drummer, Chuck Mangione
Bill believes transformation happens in the room. While virtual delivery is available for select engagements, in-person is where his work — and your audience — comes fully alive.
Three-movement structure with live bass performance. Not a lecture — an experience.
Interactive exercises in compassion, creativity, and connection. Every participant leaves with a signed book.
Keynote + lecture + workshop + masterclass + closing performance. 6+ departments engaged.
Live jazz, storytelling, light show. Bill Myers & the Trash Collectors bring the house down.
Bill Myers’ book on the 3C’s is a stepping stone to a life of joy. He imagines the world I want to live in — and offers practical, manageable steps to arriving there.Dr. John Dorhauer — Former President, United Church of Christ
Check availability, discuss custom topics, or request a full proposal for your campus or organization.
Emmy-winning storyteller. Ordained minister. Five-time award-winning author. For four decades, Bill C. Myers has moved audiences in rooms that define American culture — from the best of Broadway to the White House, from the jazz legacy of Indiana Avenue to George Floyd Square.
Today, leaders invite Bill when the stakes are human and high. His framework — The 3 C's — weaves Compassion, Creativity, and Connection into experiences that feel part keynote, part ritual, and wholly unforgettable.
A symphony in five movements. Each chapter reveals itself when you're ready.
"My father was Black. My mother was white. In 1960s Indiana, that wasn't a family — it was a statement."
The son of a police officer and a woman who chose love over convention — raised by Indiana Avenue's jazz masters — Bill didn't belong to one world. That became his superpower.
Bill Sr.
Georgia
My father was Black — a police officer who believed in building trust between communities. My mother was white — a woman who chose love over convention in 1960s Indiana.
I grew up understanding that I would never fully belong to one world. What I didn't understand yet was that this was not a loss. It was a calling. I was born to stand in the space between — to help people find one another across distances they believed were permanent.
My grandfather gave me my first gift: the understanding that a man's character is measured not by what he accumulates, but by what he builds for others.
Indianapolis' Indiana Avenue was one of the great jazz corridors of America — a street that produced Freddie Hubbard, Wes Montgomery, J.J. Johnson, Slide Hampton, and a generation of innovators who shaped the sound of the world.
I was twelve years old when these musicians took an interest in me. Not as a curiosity. As a student. As family. They put me to work — professionally — and in doing so, gave me an education no institution could replicate.
That debt has shaped everything I have done since. As President of the African American Jazz Caucus (New York City), as a consultant with the Archives of African American Music & Culture, and as a cultural curator of Indiana Avenue's history.
The music was always more than music. It was a model for how people of different backgrounds could create something together that neither could create alone. That lesson is still at the center of everything I do.
The musicians who raised him
Lawrence Clark· David Young· Clifford Ratliff· Billy Myers· Melvin Rhyne
A life lived inside the music
"When Donnie Harris died, his body lay unclaimed. No family came forward. Bill did."
Compassion learned from a grandfather who integrated the Indianapolis Fire Department — and proven on the front page of the Indianapolis Star.
Compassion came from watching my grandfather practice it.
He wore many hats. A firefighter who helped integrate the Indianapolis Fire Department. A real estate broker who provided housing when others wouldn't. A tax preparer who served his community. A record store owner who gave Black families access to music when other stores were whites-only.
He wasn't driven by accolades or praise. He simply saw suffering, then stepped into the gap — creating "a way out of no way" for others.
"Be a good steward of your community. I came to see my community as all of humanity."
William M.S. Myers — Grandfather
That's what I learned compassion means: not a feeling, but an action. To see the need, then move.
Donnie Harris was a high school basketball star — the fiery guard who led Broad Ripple to the semi-state. Bill was the bass player in the jazz band. Different worlds. But when the band played, Donnie would look across the court, lock eyes with Bill, and draw fuel from the music.
After graduation, their paths diverged. Bill went on to win an Emmy. Donnie struggled — with addiction, homelessness, decades of darkness on the streets of Indianapolis.
When Donnie died in 2023, his body lay unclaimed. No family came forward.
Bill did.
He stepped up to give his old classmate the dignity in death that life had denied him. The story made front-page news. For Bill, it was simply what compassion requires.
Indianapolis Star · Front Page · January 9, 2024
"An Emmy. World premieres with Harold Prince. Then the Indianapolis Museum of Art called — on the eve of history."
Bandstand to Bridge-Building. From network television to an original work performed the night before Obama's inauguration. Creativity isn't decoration — it's survival.
A career happened. Network television. An Emmy Award. Original cast member in world premiere productions directed by Harold Prince, Graciela Daniele at Playwrights Horizons, and A.J. Antoon at Joseph Papp's Public Theatre — productions that became celebrated shows.
Creative leadership for Billy Preston. Collaborations with Michael Feinstein, Sandi Patty, Steve Cropper, and jazz masters rooted in Indianapolis' legendary Indiana Avenue.
The Indianapolis Museum of Art commissioned Bill to create "The Music, Martin & Me" — an original work of music, spoken word, and documentary for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The evening before the historic inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States — Bill C. Myers stood on stage at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, performing an original work about Martin Luther King Jr.
The mood was electric. Who would have guessed this show would be performed on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of all Martin Luther King Jr. Days.
"The way this project came together… something really right is happening — and the time is now."
Linda Duke — Director of Education, Indianapolis Museum of Art
"I've never before witnessed anything as immediate, seamless and indelible… When a multitalented and beloved artist like Bill C. Myers calls on 50 of his friends to help him share his journey… the result is stunning. It was an event to savor and feel blessed you were there."Rita Kohn — NUVO
The stage taught me the second C: Creativity isn't just singing and dancing. It's survival. It's how we make meaning from chaos. It's problem solving.
"The first Daniel, Bill C. Myers… I had such a crush on him."
LaChanze — Tony Award-Winning Actress & Broadway Producer
speaking about Once on This Island
A Life Among Icons
Four decades of creative life brought Bill into rooms that defined American culture.
"Then my parents needed me. I walked away from everything I'd built. The world called it sacrifice. I experienced it as one of the greatest blessings of my life."
Fifteen years of caregiving. An ordination. A Buddhist-Christian funeral that became a lesson in bridge-building. Connection isn't erasing differences — it's walking across them.
Then my parents needed me.
I walked away from everything I had built. For fifteen years and counting, I have been a live-in caregiver for my mother — and for the last four of those years, for both of my parents. I care for them both today. The world saw it as a sacrifice. I experienced it as an education — and one of the greatest blessings of my life.
I became ordained. I earned my bachelor's degree in metaphysical science at 50 — not as career moves, but as ways to understand service, consciousness, and connection at their deepest levels.
I learned what ministry could mean when I was asked to officiate a funeral for a military veteran who was a practicing Buddhist — but whose Christian family opposed any Buddhist ceremony. Instead of choosing sides, I invited a Tibetan Buddhist monk to co-officiate with me. Together, we created a service that honored both traditions.
What began as family conflict became a moment of harmony and understanding.
That's when I understood: connection isn't about erasing differences. It's about building bridges across them.
Georgia
Bill Sr.
"Some work happens on stages. Some happens on sacred ground."
George Floyd Square. Coming to the Table. Partnerships with leaders across the racial justice landscape. This is not performance. This is presence.
Bill co-facilitated the “There Are No Others” workshop at the Coming to the Table National Gathering — the leading organization for racial healing in America. Working alongside Alberder Gillespie, former Director of the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission, he led participants through the 3 C’s framework as a tool for navigating difference.
Ideal moments
Opening or closing keynotes, leadership retreats, culture conversations, and high-stakes gatherings where trust, belonging, or division are on the table.
Core themes
The Transformative Power of the 3 C's — Compassion as action, Creativity as meaning-making and problem solving, Connection as bridge-building across difference.
Formats
Mainstage keynote · Intimate leadership conversations · Facilitated experiences combining story, music, and guided reflection.
Audience outcomes
What I learned became The Transformative Power of the 3 C's.
Awards followed. Invitations to speak. Letters from readers telling me it changed their lives.
So now I travel. I speak. I facilitate. I listen.
If you're tired of division — if you believe connection is still possible — I'd like to walk with you for a while.
Workshop participants, campus leaders, and organizations are already walking. They didn’t wait for permission.
— Bill C. Myers
Begin the ConversationWhether you're looking for a keynote that transforms, a residency that endures, or simply the beginning of a conversation — Bill is ready.
This isn’t a book about compassion. It’s the operating manual. The Dalai Lama tells you what to do. Bill C. Myers tells you how. Five independent literary awards confirmed what readers already knew — the 3 C’s framework is becoming the language organizations use when the old playbooks stop working.
Every workshop participant receives a signed copy. Every residency opens with its philosophy. Every keynote draws from its framework. The book is where it starts. The movement is where it goes.
The practice of deep listening and recognition of shared humanity — the foundation of both jazz ensemble playing and transformative leadership. Not pity. Not sympathy. The radical act of truly seeing another person.
The capacity to build meaning, order, and beauty within constraints — the discipline that drives jazz improvisation, artistic excellence, and social innovation. The note that doesn't exist until you play it.
The willingness to build something together that none of us could build alone — the principle that sustains ensembles, communities, and movements. The bridge you build by walking across it.
“Like a masterful jazz composition, Bill Myers’ inspirational journey delivers the exact wisdom our world urgently needs today.”
James Bradley Jr. — Legendary Drummer, Chuck Mangione
“This book isn’t just timely — it’s essential reading for anyone serious about healing our divided world.”
Thomas Norman DeWolf — Author of Inheriting the Trade
Bill C. Myers shows us that real transformation — whether personal or societal — requires more than good intentions. Through his powerful framework of the 3 C's, he demonstrates how compassion, creativity, and connection can move us from dialogue to action, from understanding to real change. This book isn't just timely — it's essential reading for anyone serious about healing our divided world.
Thomas Norman DeWolf — Author of Inheriting the Trade, Program Manager, Coming to the Table
Powerful, robust guide for those desiring to expand their personal development, enhance their impact in our challenging world, and bring deep satisfaction to their existence. Bill Myers poured his deep love into The Transformative Power of the 3 C’s so others could see a way forward.
Christine McIver — CEO, The Inspired Choices Network
Retooling key concepts for stirring social and emotional learning via performing arts, Billy considers how the 3 C’s can be a “catalyst for social change.” Billy’s influences have ranged from Indy’s Jazz Legacy to community theater, and he honors generations past and present — including his own family’s musical and social justice legacy. Full of inspirations, modeling gratitude and ways to stay invested in directing your own life — a vision of how to live a more generous life. This is a book for the young who are just starting out, trying to figure out the best way to get to their best self, as well as any and all that may feel either stuck or isolated from themselves or their community.
Dr. Maya E. Roth — Della Rosa Professor of Theatre & Director of Theater and Performance Studies, Georgetown University
★ 4.8 / 5 on Amazon · Five Independent Literary Awards
Available wherever books are sold. Every workshop participant receives a signed copy. Every residency opens with its philosophy.
Everything you need to feature, introduce, or promote Bill C. Myers. Professional bios, high-resolution photography, credential documentation, and interview topics.
Emmy Award-Winning Actor · Author · Keynote Speaker · Jazz Bassist · Minister
Bill C. Myers is an Emmy Award-winning actor, five-time award-winning author, professional jazz bassist, certified professional coach, ordained minister, and the 2025 National Keynote Speaker for Optimist International.
He has performed in world premiere productions alongside the giants of American theater, working with legendary directors Harold Prince (Kiss of the Spider Woman), Graciela Daniele (Once on This Island at Playwrights Horizons), A.J. Antoon (Genesis at Joseph Papp's Public Theatre), and producer Joseph Papp.
His book, The Transformative Power of the 3 C's: Growing Compassion, Creativity & Connection, has received five independent literary awards: three BookFest Awards (Self-Help Transformation, Self-Help Inspiration, Health & Wellness Psychology) and two International Firebird Book Awards (Inspiration, Personal Growth).
A former head classroom teacher at an IPS Performing Arts Magnet Middle School, Bill brings both artistic excellence and pedagogical depth to every engagement. He carries commendations from the White House (President George W. Bush, 2005), the United States Embassy in Barbados (2010, for bringing the best of American culture to the world), and the City of Indianapolis (Mayor Joe Hogsett) for cultural service and community leadership.
Bill leads the jazz-funk band Bill Myers & the Trash Collectors, serves as President of the Indianapolis Downtown Optimist Club, hosts the "Bill Myers Inspires" podcast focusing on social justice, and provides outreach music ministry for Second Presbyterian Church. He is a dedicated caregiver and advocate, serving as a live-in caregiver for both of his parents.
His second book, "An America Reimagined: A Constitution Built on Compassion, Creativity, and Connection," is currently in development.
How compassion, creativity, and connection can transform organizations and communities
The journey from world premiere productions to racial justice advocacy
What America's original art form teaches about leadership and collaboration
15 years of full-time caregiving and its unexpected leadership lessons
Preserving and honoring Indianapolis's historic jazz corridor
A constitutional framework built on compassion, creativity, and connection
High-resolution photos, video clips, custom bios, or additional press materials available on request.
Whether you’re booking a keynote, planning a campus residency, or exploring partnership — the conversation starts here.
Currently booking Fall 2026 & Spring 2027 · Campus residencies require 90-day lead time · Early conversations get the best dates
Keynotes, workshops, residencies, and the Speakeasy experience. Tell Bill about your audience, your moment, and what’s at stake — he’ll design something that meets it.
Inquire NowInterview requests, podcast appearances, press inquiries, and feature stories.
Press ContactJoin a growing community of leaders, educators, and bridge-builders putting the 3 C’s into practice. Newsletter, podcast, and first access to new work.
SubscribeConversations about social justice, creativity, and the 3 C's with leaders, artists, and changemakers.
Listen NowWhen I first met Bill Myers, I knew immediately — this is someone who doesn't just talk about transformation. He lives it.Linda Duke — Director of Education, Indianapolis Museum of Art
