Effie Brown is an award winning film producer known for projects such as “Dear White People” and “Real Women Have Curves”. They were born and raised in New Jersey. She graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a bachelors in Cinematography and Film/Video Production, and a bachelor in Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts. Starting out in the industry, Effie faced a lot of gender and racial discrimination. Oprah was one of the only prominent successful black women in the industry and there was not a clear path that Effie could follow that had been established. Effie’s mentor said to her, “The biggest lie that we are told is that there is room for only one of us…when you get to the top you will see that there is room. You have to lean back and help somebody else make their way up.” Through networking and creating a community of mutual support to uplift one another, she found success.

By: Rocio Roberts-Goodban