Ava DuVernay

Academy Award nominee and Emmy, BAFTA, and Peabody Award winner Ava DuVernay is a writer, director, producer, and film distributor. She has directed significant films such as the Academy Award-nominated historical drama "Selma," which received four Golden Globe nominations and two Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, and the social justice documentary "13th." She also directed the Disney children's adventure "A Wrinkle in Time," establishing her as the highest-grossing Black woman director in American box office history and the first African-American woman to direct a film with a budget of $100 million.

Her directorial debut was the hip hop documentary "This is the Life," and her filmography includes "Middle of Nowhere," for which she won the 2012 Sundance Film Festival Best Director Award. DuVernay's recent projects include directing the TV series "Queen Sugar" and the short film "August 28: A Day in the Life of a People" for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Her latest film was "Origin," a biographical drama based on the life of Isabel Wilkerson as she researched and wrote her #1 New York Times bestselling book, "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents."

In 2019, DuVernay created, wrote, produced, and directed the Emmy Award-winning limited series "When They See Us." She continues her work in television with series like "Naomi" for The CW; the docuseries "One Perfect Shot" and DC Comics event series "DMZ" for HBO Max; the romantic anthology "Cherish the Day" and serial drama "Queen Sugar" for OWN; reality show "Home Sweet Home" for NBC; and the animated "Wings of Fire" and drama series "Colin In Black and White" for Netflix.

Founder of ARRAY, a distribution and advocacy collective dedicated to amplifying films by people of color and women, DuVernay amplifies the work of Black artists and women of all kinds through her Peabody Award-winning narrative change collective. She was named one of Fortune Magazine's 50 Greatest World Leaders in 2017. DuVernay is also recognized for her contributions to humanitarian and philanthropy efforts, particularly within civil rights and social justice. She currently holds positions on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Advisory Board of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and the Board of the American Film Institute.