Mara Brock Akil
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Mara Brock Akil (May 27, 1970, Los Angeles) is a U.S. television writer and producer. She was born in California, but was raised primarily in Kansas City. She is a graduate of Northwestern University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in journalism.
Akil began her writing career on Fox's critically acclaimed South Central. She later moved on to writing for the UPN series Moesha, where she earned her producer title after four seasons. She received the 1999 SHINE (Sexual Health in Entertainment) Award presented by The Media Project for her Moesha episode "Birth Control."
Akil later served as supervising producer on the comedy series The Jamie Foxx Show. For the 2000-01 television season, Akil created her first show, Girlfriends (2000), which she and Kelsey Grammer executive produce. Girlfriends was presented with a 2001 SHINE Award for "The Burning Vagina Monologues" episode. It was also honored with 2002 and 2003 NAACP Image Awards nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series.
Akil draws inspiration for the storylines from her own group of good friends, including Felicia D. Henderson (creator of Showtime's Soul Food: The Series) and Gina Prince-Bythewood (writer/director of New Line Cinema's Love & Basketball).
She is married to executive producer/director Salim Akil. Recently, VIBE listed Akil on its "Top 100 Hottest People List" and Honey magazine named her as one of the "Top 25 Hottest Women in Urban Entertainment." She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority and a board member of Center Theatre Group (Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson Theatre). She also mentors aspiring young writers.
