LENA WAITHE – actor, producer, Emmy-winning writer, and founder of her own media empire, Hillman Grad – continues to lead the cultural revolution in Hollywood with creativity, diversity, and charisma. She expertly taps into emerging societal trends with a sharp wit, speaking to myriad experiences from her unique perspective while spotlighting underrepresented voices and challenging audiences to think outside conventional norms. Her comprehensive slate of work boasts projects at Warner Bros., Netflix, Disney, Amazon, Universal, Focus, HBO, HBO Max, and Showtime, and includes BET’s Twenties – a semi-autobiographical series she wrote and executive produced that was praised for being the first primetime series starring a masculine-presenting queer woman of color in a lead role. Waithe currently serves as executive producer of the critically acclaimed series The Chi, a relevant, timely, and distinctive coming-of-age story that follows six interrelated characters in Chicago’s South Side.