Ilana Peña always wanted to write her own coming of age show featuring a tween/teenage Latina protagonist that audiences of all ages could enjoy. However, many of the shows she loved as a child celebrated boyhood, and the shows that did feature female leads were geared exclusively to young audiences. Peña is the creator, showrunner, executive producer, and director of the critically acclaimed Diary of a Future President, which tells the story of a young Latina girl whose experiences as a tween are foundational to becoming the leader of the country. On this episode of Northwestern Intersections, Peña shares her experiences being a writer on the supportive, women-led set of the renowned, musical comedy-drama Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and how she fostered that same uplifting, women-led space on her own show for cast and crew to thrive. She also underscores the importance of telling positive and joyous stories that show Latinx and LGBTQ folks as multifaceted, cultivating your community, and being loud about what you want.
Northwestern Intersections will be featuring all-female guests during the month of March in recognition of Women’s History Month, so we may uplift and celebrate the alumna who are shaping their respective fields.
Writing your own path, with Ayun Halliday ’87
Becoming a Poet, with Mary Jo Bang ’71, ’75 MA
APIDA Heritage Month Special Episode with Phil Yu '00
What Does It Mean to Be a Woman in Medicine? With Shelly Vaziri Flais ’95, ’99 MD, ’02 GMER; Kavitha Gandhi ’94, ’98 MD, ’99 GMER; and Nupur Ghoshal ’01 PhD, ’03 MD
What Does It Mean to Be a Woman in Medicine? With Shelly Vaziri Flais ’95, ’99 MD, ’02 GMER; Kavitha Gandhi ’94, ’98 MD, ’99 GMER; and Nupur Ghoshal ’01 PhD, ’03 MD
What’s Next Live from San Francisco! An Alumnae Panel with Emily Moy ’18, Erin Turner ’14, and Tori Wu ’20
The Intersection of the Humanities and Technology with Iga Kozlowska ’14 MA, ’17 PhD
Bending the Arc of History toward Justice, with Terry Franklin ’84
How Mental Health Companies and Social Media Are Shaping Private Practice, with Kevin Yu ’19 MS
Community Is a Foundation for Healing, with Inger Burnett-Zeigler ’09 PhD
How to Make a Positive Impact, with 2022 Northwestern Alumni Medalist Cindy Chupack ’87
How to Make a Positive Impact, with 2022 Northwestern Alumni Medalist David Louie ’72
How to Make a Positive Impact, with 2022 Northwestern Alumni Medalist Jeff Ubben
The First Lady of Personal Branding, Melissa Dawn Simkins ’01 MS
What’s Next Live from Chicago! An Alumni Panel with Jennifer Siedjak ’14, Jim Alrutz ’16, and Ameen Kishta ’22 MS
Finding Your North Star with Suchi Sethi Tuli ’10 MBA
Helping Others Rewrite Their Stories with Mirielle Ranade ’09
‘GRACE: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America’ with Cody Keenan '02
Leadership is a Journey with Ameet Mallik ’94, ’95 MS
Online Privacy Rights and the Datafication of Our Lives with University Trustee Jane S. Hoffman ’86 (’21 P)
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