2025 HUMANITAS PRIZES
VOICE FOR CHANGE AWARD
Humanitas will honor Lena Waithe with The 2025 Voice for Change Award at the 2025 Humanitas Prizes Award Show & Toast on September 7 at Avalon Hollywood.
The Voice for Change Award honors those at any point in their career who have created or championed visionary and courageous storytelling.
The Voice for Change Award will be presented by the legendary television producer and writer Mara Brock Akil, creator of the recent hit Forever and The Game. One of Waithe’s earliest entertainment jobs came on the set of Akil’s beloved sitcom, Girlfriends.
“Lena Waithe is a singular voice in contemporary screenwriting,” said Michelle Franke, Humanitas Executive Director. “Humanitas has followed and admired her work for years, from the Emmy-winning Master of None episode "Thanksgiving" to the creation of The Chi and the poetic Queen & Slim—Lena has explored the complexities of identity, belonging, love, and resilience. Lena’s commitment to truth, especially right now, makes her work culturally vital, profoundly human, and rare. It’s an honor to present her with The Voice for Change Award at such an important time.”
About the Honoree
Lena Waithe is an Emmy-winning writer, producer, actor, and founder of Hillman Grad. Known for Master of None, The Chi, and Queen & Slim, Waithe’s recent producorial credits include the Emmy-nominated documentary Being Mary Tyler Moore, the 2023 Sundance Films A Thousand and One and Kokomo City, as well the Tony-nominated play, Ain’t No Mo’. In November 2024, Waithe launched her podcast series, Legacy Talk.
About the Presenter
Mara Brock Akil has written and produced over 400 episodes of television, leaving her mark on Hollywood. She’s received Essence Magazine’s Visionary Award and the prestigious Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award by NATPE, and has been named in Variety and The Hollywood Reporter’s Showrunner Power Lists, as well as The Hollywood Reporter’s "Women in Entertainment Power100" multiple times. In 2020, Brock Akil entered into a deal with Netflix to exclusively produce television shows for the streaming platform under her new banner, story27 Productions. In 2021, she launched her own digital Dézine (i.e. digital magazine), InTheLandOfMara. Her credits include writing and producing the hit show Girlfriends (2000-2008), The Game (2006-2015), Being Mary Jane (2013-2019), and executive producing Netflix’s Stamped from the Beginning which was on the Academy Awards® Documentary Feature Shortlist. Brock Akil’s most recent project Forever, the reimagination of the 1975 Judy Blume novel just premiered on Netflix to rave reviews and a recently announced season 2 pickup.
In 2021, Mara expanded her passion for non-profit work and started her very own non-profit writing residency in Los Angeles, the Writers’ Colony. The mission is to support up-and-coming underrepresented writers/creatives. The impact of the Writer’s Colony is something Mara’s very proud of. She is delighted to continue the colony’s commitment to nurturing emerging writers, and providing them with exposure, access, and the tools they need to continue on their journeys.
Brock Akil resides in Los Angeles and is married to fellow writer, producer, director Salim Akil. They have two sons, Yasin and Nasir.
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