Nikki Webber Allen

An Emmy Award-winning, TED Talk giving, 20+ year veteran of film and television, Nikki Webber Allen is an unabashed optimist who believes deeply in the potential of storytelling to both entertain and empower. Growing up with a passion for all things entertainment, Allen, the proud daughter of a fair-minded jurist, was dismayed by the industry's lack of diversity. She vowed to become the change she sought. She persisted, repeatedly cold calling the leading director of hip hop and R&B music videos at the time, Lionel C. Martin. Impressed with her tenacity, he hired her, launching a rise from Production Assistant, working alongside industry legend Hype Williams and super stylist Jen Rade, on his iconic videos for 90s superstars such as Whitney Houston, Snoop Dogg, Tupac, Mariah Carey, and more to TV commercials and Spike Lee's feature films Malcolm X and Clockers.

She moved up to Production Coordinator at HBO, Associate Producer at BET. In various casting and production positions on both coasts for MTV, ABC, 21st Century Fox, Warner Bros. Studios, and Sony Pictures Television, Allen covered a breadth of genres, music to reality; garnering two Emmys along the way. During her decade-long tenure as Vice President, Talent & Casting at TV One, she flourished, overseeing all talent activations for tentpole events including NAACP Image Awards, Essence Music Festival, Tom Joyner Cruise, Congressional Black Caucaus, TCA (Television Critics Association), Press Tours, and TV One up fronts; work she enjoys immensely.

Personal stories of depression and anxiety in her own family, her limitless compassion, and her passion for intentional storytelling led her to mental health advocacy. She's a stigma shatterer, a negativity disruptor, and founder of iLIVEFOR..., a 501C3 non-profit to end mental health stigma in the BIPOC communities. To that end, she is producing a documentary featuring millennials of color who live with depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation, raising visibility and countering the pervasive stigmatizing narrative of mental health illness in marginalized communities.

A four-month TED Residency culminated in her TED Talk, "Don't Suffer from Your Depression in Silence," viewed 2.5 million times to date. A sought-after speaker, Allen has presented at Harvard University, Columbia University Medical School, Allstate Corporate Headquarters and the Global Summit on Mental Health Culture Change in the UK. She hosted the first season of Slate Magazine's "Life Effects" podcast. When she's not producing, Allen a firm believer in self-care, spends quality time with her husband Grammy nominated musician Jeffrey Allen, and their dookie rope-wearing pup, Riplee James.