Victor Woods

Victor Woods is a nationally recognized speaker and the founder of the Victor Woods Corporation.  Over the past decade, Victor has spoken for organizations, colleges, universities, churches and schools throughout the United States.  His appearances run the gamut from the University of Michigan, to FordhamUniversity in New York, and MorehouseCollegeBusinessSchool, to challenging 25,000 educators at the Houston Astrodome “to give youth the education they deserve to keep them from the criminal justice system.”  In addition, he has keynoted at conferences, including the National Criminal Justice Conference, the National Baptist Convention, the National Juvenile Justice Conference, as well as the National Preventing Crime in the Black Community Conference hosted by the State of Florida’s Attorney General, Bill McCollum.  Recently, Mr. Woods was the first African American to keynote a presentation for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections Administrators at the behest of the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, Dustin Jones.

Many consider Victor Woods to be among great modern day orators, based on his distinct and powerful voice and the passion of his message.  Victor also has three published works, he motivates you to overcome obstacles in, Successfully Achieving Your Vision I and Successfully Achieving Your Vision II and his autobiography A Breed Apart, published by Simon and Schuster, tells the gripping tale of his choices, obstacles and successes.  

However, Victor’s beginning is what makes his story so remarkably powerful.  At the age of nineteen, a task force of sixty detectives arrested him in the act of committing an armed robbery.  After his release from state prison, Victor returned to a life of crime.  Six years later, Victor was arrested for orchestrating a 40 million dollar credit card fraud conspiracy.  After refusing to cooperate with authorities, Victor received a federal and state sentence of ten years.  He served his time in maximum-security federal prison in Oxford, Wisconsin.  After serving nine months in solitary confinement, Victor fully realized the weight of his circumstances.  Subsequently, he began to give motivational speeches to inmates encouraging them not to succumb to the vicious cycle that entraps so many of our nation’s young men.  This in turn motivated Victor to do the impossible when all odds were in favor of his failure, when the rules of society said he could not change; he set himself on a course to make a positive lasting contribution to society.  

Since his release in 1997, Victor has worked with law enforcement and prison officials across the United States, the Deputy Director of Prison Programming, Roberta Fews in Illinois, the Bureau of Prisons Director, Mr. Mc Neil of Florida.  Most recently, he has assisted Mayor Daly’s office in the City of Chicago with a community safety initiative to stop the senseless violence of urban youth.

Mr. Woods’ television appearances include the O’Reilly Factor, C-Span, and BET.  National radio stations and newspapers have covered his speeches and initiatives.  The Chicago Tribune, The St. Petersburg Times, the Louisiana Herald, and The Oklahoma City Herald all have covered his story or contributions to the public.  In 2008, Victor was featured in Ebony magazine.  Currently, he is working with Rebel Entertainment on a movie deal about his life.  

Victor is dedicated to leaving a legacy for men and women that aspire to beat all odds and dare to be the star of their own destiny.