She's A STAR

Actress, activist and Harvard graduate Yara Shahidi on receiving the 2023 Women in Film Max Mara Face of the Future Award.

- ZUE WEI LEONG

Since 2006, Italian luxury fashion brand Max Mara has been in partnership with Women in Film, an organisation advocating for representation of women and underrepresented genders in Hollywood, to present the annual WIF Max Mara Face of the Future Award. Each year the prestigious award celebrates one emerging actress who has significantly contributed and impacted the film and television industry.

For its 18th iteration, the 2023 WIF Max Mara Face of the Future Award recognises Yara Shahidi. Over the last decade, this American actress shows time and time again that she is a force to be reckoned with in the industry. Her career—which began in 2014 with a breakthrough role on Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated series, black-ish, and earned her the titular role in the spin-off series, grown-ish—has expanded well beyond the screen.

In 2019, she founded 7th Sun Productions, alongside her mother, Keri Salter-Shahidi. There, she uplifts diverse voices and flexes her skills behind the camera, as the executive producer of ABC’s grown-ish, Apple TV’s Extrapolations, and most recently, Amazon Studio’s Sitting in Bars with Cake.

With her growing platform, Shahidi also makes her voice heard. She continuously advocates for inclusivity in all aspects, from media programming to wider politics as the founder of the youth-led educational organisation WeVoteNext. At the same time, she successfully obtained a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in Social Studies and African American Studies, with a concentration on Black Political Thought Under a Neocolonial Landscape.