VIP Honoree Reception and "Four Women-One Woman " Play

The play and the  VIP Reception for the Lavender Luncheon Honorees is also the special Honoree Acknowledgment to Dr. Ka'Ryn Holder-Jackson, former Board of Trustees, WOCPSCN, Kevin Nichols, and others. 

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Four Women-one woman play Guest Performer, Pernell Walker 

Walker came to public attention as Laura in Dee Rees's critically acclaimed 2011 lesbian coming of age drama Pariah, an expansion of a short film from 2007 in which she had also appeared.[1] For this she received a Black Reel Awards nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress. She worked with Lee Daniels in The Butler. Her scene in Ava Duvernay’s When They See Us became a viral Instagram meme prior to the Biden inauguration, as her character predicted Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election.

Her television credits include Grace Campbell in City On The Hill, working with director Kevin Bacon, Ruby/Thunderthighs on The Deuce with director Michelle McClaren, The Night Of with director Steve Zaillian, director Carl Franklin for The Leftovers, director Tim Van Patten for Boardwalk Empire and Tina Fey for The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Walker made her off-broadway debut in Radha Blanks’ SEED originating the role of Rashawn, directed by Niegel Smith for the Classical Theater of Harlem/Hip-Hop Theater Festival 2010-2011. She also appeared in Dolphins and Sharks by James Tyler, directed by Charlotte Brathwaite for the Labyrinth Theater Company in 2017. Later gaining recognition for her role as Munchies in Pulitzer prize winner Stephen Adly Guirgus’ Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven, directed by John Ortiz for the Atlantic Theater Company's 2019-2020 season.

Dana Verde is an award-winning filmmaker who has written/directed eight short films that have been screened in over 30 film festivals internationally. She is also an adjunct associate professor of screenwriting at the University of Arts, Philadelphia, PA.

Dana Verde started her career co-hosting a TV show on MTV called Your Movie Show as a film reviewer while pursuing a degree at The New School University in Media Studies/ Screenwriting, graduate studies in film at The London Film School, where she earned an MA in Filmmaking.

Her first produced feature film Grand Gesture was nominated by HBO for Best Feature Film at the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival and screened in the Best Of series at the Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago. Her next screenplay, The Perfect Match, was produced by Queen Latifah’s production company, Flavor Unit, and was distributed by Lionsgate. It debuted at No. 6  at the U.S. box office and opened in 925 theaters across the country.

Verde has ventured into directing TV commercials and co-directed her first commercial for the streaming service Paramount Plus—which features Johnny Knoxville, The Good Fight actor Christine Baranski, Audra McDonald, and Cedric the Entertainer—with commercial director David Shane from O Positive Films.   Verde is also writing a feature thriller for MarVista/Fox Entertainment.