Maame-Yaa Aforo

Maame-Yaa Aforo is a Ghanaian-American actress, writer, and producer born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Maxwell and Esther Aforo. She is the middle child and only girl between brothers Kwasi Aforo and Nana Aforo. She was raised in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis in a city named Coon Rapids, Minnesota. She graduated from Totino-Grace High School in Fridley, Minnesota where she was Student Body President and a member of Totino-Grace Company of Singers. Being raised in a midwestern, suburban neighborhood by African parents, Maame-Yaa decided to venture to Atlanta's esteemed Spelman College where she obtained her undergraduate degree in Political Science. With visions of being a Political Journalist, Maame-Yaa interned on Capitol Hill and was hired as a Press staffer in the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Development upon graduating. While studying abroad in Ghana her junior year at Spelman, Maame-Yaa made a documentary called ' So Says She' chronicling the return to home experience of African American women in Ghana. This ignited her passion for film. She moved to Los Angeles on a whim after being hired as a production assistant for a talk show and was released because the producer didn't want her to move, "in case it didn't work out". Having already bought her ticket to Los Angeles, she took the leap that changed her life forever. While searching for employment, Maame-Yaa auditioned and began training at the famous Groundlings School and School in improv and sketch comedy. Her second year in Los Angeles, she was hired as Director's assistant to Gina Prince-Bythewood for her 2014 film, 'beyond the lights'. She gained a wealth of knowledge about the film production process, and a mentor in Prince-Bythewood. Maame-Yaa can be seen in several web series and shorts. She was featured in John Legend's 2014 video, 'You & I'. She also plays wife to Academy Award winner Tim Robbins in the 2015 Kristin Wigg film, 'Welcome To Me'. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta.