21 Powerful Living Women: Lena Waithe

Award-winning Writer, Creator, Producer, Actor, and CEO
Lena is the creator of Showtime’s The Chi, and BET’s series Boomerang and Twenties. She wrote and produced the film Queen & Slim and is the executive producer of the horror series Them. Lena co-wrote and starred in the Thanksgiving episode of Netflix’s Master of None, and won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, making her the first Black woman to ever do so. Lena leads the cultural revolution in Hollywood with creativity, diversity, and charisma as she taps into emerging societal trends and challenges audiences to think outside of conventional norms. She has worked with Netflix, BET, Disney, Amazon, Universal, Focus, and MGM. She invests in the future with her Hillman Grad Mentorship Lab which provides an opportunity for marginalized storytellers to gain experience in television and film. Lena is an advocate for queer representation throughout the industry. She’s a creatively productive powerhouse.
Highlights: Acknowledged by The New York City LGBT Community Center, GLAAD, The Trevor Project's Hero Award, MTV’s Trailblazer Award, NAACP Image Award, and featured in The Hollywood Reporter, Fast Company, and Variety. She was noted as the Hollywood Reporter’s 2020 TV Producer of the Year.