Mehret Mandefro

Dr. Mehret Mandefro is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker, entrepreneur and thought leader that champions the creative arts as a path to developing a more just society. She co-founded the multimedia production company Truth Aid and her credits include the Sundance and Berlinale Audience Award winner Difret, the New York Times Critic’s Pick Little White Lie, the viral digital series The Loving Generation, and showrunner of Ethiopia’s first-ever teen drama series Yegna. She executive produced the American Masters feature documentary film How It Feels To Be Free which was nominated for an Emmy and she is a member of the American Television Academy.

Entertaining and inspirational, Mehret’s talks and keynotes are based upon her experiences working at the intersection of social impact and storytelling in the screen sector. All of the stories she tells center Black women’s voices globally and the impact of her body of work on women and girls also makes her a leading expert in how narrative can be used to shift culture. Her track record at the intersection of social impact and media earned her a spot on Variety’s 2021 list of most impactful women in global entertainment.

She has an AB in Anthropology from Harvard University, an MD from Harvard Medical School, a Masters in Global Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine as a Fulbright Scholar, and a PhD in Anthropology from Temple University. Her distinctions include being named a “Great Immigrant” by the Carnegie Corporation, a White House Fellow in the Obama administration, and a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar. She is an alumnus of the Sundance Institute’s New Voices Lab, Film Forward, American Film Showcase, and the EAVE Producers Workshop. She lives between Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Alexandria, Virginia with her husband and three children.