Bill Samuels (political activist)
William Christie Samuels is a political activist and businessman who resided in New York and now lives in Rhode Island. He was the founder of the good government group EffectiveNY and is currently the chairman of the board of the Howard Samuels Policy Center. He was awarded the 2011 Common Cause Award for outstanding commitment to government and as an innovating political thinker and the 2017 Center for Popular Democracy Social Justice Award. Samuels was Chairman and CEO of ACTV, Inc. and founded Resonant Software. He was instrumental in getting the inclusive New York State Equal Rights Amendment onto the ballot in 2024. Early life and background Samuels was raised upstate in Canandaigua, New York, the son of Howard and Barbara Samuels. His father Howard J. Samuels served as U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce under President Lyndon B. Johnson, was Director of the Small Business Administration and founded Kordite, which made Baggies and Hefty. The company was sold to Mobil Oil in 1958. In 1974, his father ran for Governor with Mario Cuomo as his Lieutenant Governor ultimately losing to Hugh Carey. Samuels attended MIT where he earned undergraduate degrees in political science, economics, and engineering. He later graduated from