Shakira Saunders — Television Producer

I’m the child of two Jamaican immigrants who moved to New York. My parents taught me the importance of staying informed - not just to understand current events, but to recognize injustice, question systems, and develop empathy for others. At the same time, they filled our home with music, movies, sports, theater, and storytelling.

A typical week included everything from 20/20 and Saturday Night Live to Beverly Hills, 90210 and Showtime at the Apollo. Politics, comedy, culture, and conversation existed side by side, shaping the way I saw the world and the stories within it.

I’ve always interpreted the world through vivid, visual moments. In sixth grade, my art teacher, Ms. Q, assigned a project that would stay with me for the rest of my life. We were given several months to paint a life-sized mural of ourselves. I painted myself wearing oversized clothes, sitting on a metal garbage can in a brick-lined New York alleyway inspired by the ones I played in as a child in Brooklyn.

When I finished, Ms. Q asked me to step into the hallway.

"You've got a creative eye," she told me. "Make sure you use it."

Those words stayed with me and sparked a curiosity that would eventually become a calling.

For over fifteen years, I've produced television across news, late night, daytime, unscripted, and digital media, with work spanning ABC, CNN, VH1, CBS, Showtime, and The CW.

No matter the format, I’m driven by the same goal: helping audiences discover something they didn’t know before. Whether it’s understanding an election, gaining insight into an artist’s creative process, or finding a connection to someone whose life looks completely different from their own, I believe great storytelling expands our perspective and brings people closer together.

I love telling stories, but what I value most is earning someone’s trust to help them tell their own.