Dr. Mehret Mandefro’s credits include the Sundance and Berlinale Audience Award winner Difret, the New York Times Critic’s Pick Little White Lie, and showrunner of Ethiopia’s first-ever teen drama series Yegna. She recently executive produced the American Masters feature documentary film How It Feels To Be Free which is streaming on Amazon Prime.

Mehret co-founded the independent media production company Truth Aid Media in the US, its sister company A51 Pictures in Ethiopia, the Realness Institute in South Africa, a nonprofit that aims to build the screen sector ecosystem across Africa, and was formerly the Executive Producer of Kana Television which was recently acquired by Canal+.

Mehret’s track record scaling up media businesses and using narrative to shift culture secured her spot on Variety’s 2021 list of most impactful women in global entertainment. She is a sought-after speaker on these topics and has a TED talk about the impact of the creative industry for economic growth in Africa. Her latest media venture, TBTM Studios, is headquartered in Dubai and is harnessing the power of blockchain to reward creators and their fans by turning culture into currency.

Dr. Mehret Mandefro 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. Mehret is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and Chair of the Board for the Realness Institute.