Lena Waithe
Screenwriter
Screenwriter and actress who is their for her role as Denise on the Netflix original comedy series Master of None. In 2017, she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series for her work on the "Thanksgiving" episode of Master of None alongside Aziz Ansari.
She graduated from Columbia College Chicago in 2006. She wrote the 2011 short Save Me, which proved to be her first ever writing credit.
She became the first black woman ever to win the Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series. Previously, in 2014, she was named by Variety as one of its 10 comedians to watch.
She has said her parents were supportive of her decision to pursue writing as a career. She married Alana Mayo in 2019, but the two separated the following year.
Her Showtime series The Chi is produced by Common, who also grew up on Chicago's south side.