About Me

Mehret Mandefro is a film/television industry leader known for her body of work as an Emmy-nominated producer, writer, and serial entrepreneur. Her track record scaling media businesses and using narrative to shift culture secured her a spot on Variety’s list of most impactful women in global entertainment. Mehret co-founded the independent media production company Truth Aid Media and the nonprofit training organization Realness Institute which is strengthening the media ecosystem across Africa through training programs, mentorship, and capacity building. 

Mehret’s artistic practice is rooted in integrating art and science to produce what she refers to as “audiovisual medicine.” Her healing approach informs her film and television shows which span documentary and fiction, and have been featured on  multiple outlets, including Netflix, PBS, American Masters, and Amazon Prime.  Her most recent film The Cost of Inheritance broadcast on PBS and is currently streaming. Other works include: How It Feels to Be Free (American Masters), Content for Change: Black x Jewish (BET), Sweetness in the Belly (TIFF World Premiere, Amazon Prime), the digital series The Loving Generation (Topic), the Sundance and Berlinale Audience Award winner Difret (Netflix, Kanopy), the New York Times Critic’s Pick Little White Lie (PBS), and showrunner of Ethiopia’s first-ever teen drama television series Yegna (Kana/Canal+).

A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and the American Television Academy, she is a sought-after speaker and has a widely watched TED talk about the impact of the creative industry on economic growth in Africa.

Mehret has a BA in Anthropology from Harvard University, an MD from Harvard Medical School, a MSc in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine as a Fulbright Scholar, and a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from Temple University. She was a White House Fellow in the Obama Administration and is currently COO of TBTM Studios.