E.T. Williams, CEO of Elnora, Inc., was born Edgar Thomas Williams, Jr. on October 14, 1937 in Brooklyn, New York. As a child, Williams was often exposed to real estate. His father, Edgar Thomas Williams, Sr., was a real estate and insurance broker and his mother, Elnora Bing Williams Morris, was a homemaker. In the 1940s, Williams attended Elliott School in Brooklyn and during his junior year in high school, he was elected president of the student body. Receiving his diploma in 1955 from Eastern District High School, Williams attended Brooklyn College that same year and received his B.A. degree in economics in 1960. He received his real estate and insurance license in 1959 to take over his father's business while his father recovered from an illness.

Williams joined the Experiment of International Living Program in the early 1960s and lived aboard for six months in India. There, he focused on themes such as community service, language study, ecology, and the arts, while enjoying the daily lives of his host family. Upon his return to the United States, Williams taught at P.S. 35, a junior high school in Brooklyn, New York. After teaching, he then went to work for the Peace Corps where he was stationed in Ethiopia. Williams then moved to Washington, D.C where he continued his work with the Peace Corps for three more years. During his time at the Peace Corps, Williams took classes in business affairs at John Hopkins School of International Studies.

Williams' professional career in finance began in 1968 when he joined the Maryland National Bank as a banker. He worked there until 1971 when he returned to New York City, joined Chase Manhattan and began working in institutional banking as a Lending Officer. Williams left banking in 1982 and returned to real estate as Chairman of the Board and Head of the Fordham Hill Project, the largest eviction co-op conversion in the history of New York City. He retired in 1992 and began Elnora, Inc., a private family investment company that holds and manages all family assets including African American art, real estate, and investment portfolios.

Williams is an avid African American art collector and dealer. Included in his collection are works of art by Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden and Aaron Douglas. He owns the estate of Hale Woodruff and donated a sizeable portion of it to the Studio Museum in Harlem and other museums. He sits on several museum boards and continues to collect art in New York City, Sag Harbor, Long Island, Miami and Naples, Florida, where he resides with his wife and family.

Williams was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on December 13, 2006.