Ava DuVernay is an Academy Award nominee and winner of Emmy, BAFTA, Sundance, Image and Peabody Awards. Her films include SELMA, the first film directed by an African-American woman to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar; 13TH, which made her the first African-American woman to be nominated for an Oscar in a feature directing category; MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, which earned her Sundance’s Best Director Prize; and Disney’s A WRINKLE IN TIME, which made her the highest grossing Black woman director in American box office history. DuVernay’s four-part series When They See Us was honored with 16 Emmy nominations. Her critically acclaimed series Queen Sugar took its place in history as the longest-running Black family drama series with 88 episodes across seven seasons.

A champion of independent voices, DuVernay founded the narrative change collective ARRAY in 2011, recipient of the Peabody Institutional Award. She was given an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Yale University, and her portrait had been commissioned by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in recognition of her impact on American culture. In 2023, she made history again as the first African-American woman director to compete at the Venice Biennale in its 100 year history with her feature film Origin.

 
DuVernay serves on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, representing the directors branch, and holds leadership roles with the Directors Guild of America and the American Film Institute advisory boards. Her cultural influence is showcased with the making of a sold-out Ava DuVernay Barbie doll, a Funko Pop figurine, and even a custom Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor. She lives and works in her hometown of Los Angeles, California.

Kaci Walfall is an actress and producer from Brooklyn, New York. Her professional career commenced in 2014 when she made her Broadway debut at the age of nine in “The Lion King” as Young Nala. The following year, she originated the role of Lavender in the National Tour of “Matilda.” Walfall is most known for her portrayal of Naomi in the CW television series “Naomi,” created by acclaimed producer and director Ava DuVernay. Additionally, she has appeared in various television shows across different networks, including CBS, Amazon, NBC, and Starz . Currently, she is featured in the Apple TV series “Dope Thief,” directed by renowned filmmaker Ridley Scott. In 2023, Walfall launched her own production company, “No Small Feat Entertainment”. With the mission to highlight underrepresented human experiences in media through the power of storytelling. Post graduating high school Kaci has studied at The London Academy of Dramatic Art and at Terry Knickerbocker Studios. She has attended The New School Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts majoring in Screen Studies with minors in Visuals Studies and Film Production.

Jermaine Hill joined The New School as Dean of the School of Drama and Associate Dean of the College of Performing Arts in June 2023. Immediately before coming to The New School, he served as Interim Dean of Theater at Boston Conservatory at Berklee and has held faculty and administrative positions at Columbia College Chicago, North Central College, Roosevelt University/Chicago College of the Performing Arts, and Purdue University. In 2023, American Theatre magazine named him one of “6 Theatre Workers You Should Know.”

 
An award-winning music director, his regional credits include Choir Boy (Steppenwolf), RENT (The Muny), The Color Purple (The Muny, Drury Lane Oakbrook), Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Huntington), Spunk (Roundabout Theatre’s Refocus Project), The Music Man (Goodman), The Total Bent (Haven), Ragtime (Griffin), Nell Gwynn (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), Too Heavy For Your Pocket (TimeLine Theatre), and workshops for Gospel at Colonus with Court Theatre. This summer, he will return to the Goodman to remount his highly-acclaimed production of The Color Purple and revive a hidden gem of the theatrical canon, Play On!, at Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia. 

 
He has performed with such diverse groups as the Chicago Symphony Chorus, the Britten-Pears Young Artists Programme/Aldeburgh Festival, and the Cayuga Vocal Ensemble, and his acting credits include a guest spot on NBC's Chicago Med, commercials with Onion Labs and BlueCross/BlueShield, and the role of Sam in Breathe with Me (Erasing the Distance). He previously served as a member of the Sarah Siddons Advisory Council and is an Ensemble Member of Griffin Theatre in Chicago.

 
He has degrees from Ithaca College and the New England Conservatory of Music, where he graduated with academic honors, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Leadership Studies with a concentration in Student Services Personnel from the University of the Cumberlands.