Los Angeles – Caribbean Heritage Organization and the Institute of Caribbean Studies, DC are pleased to announce that actress Tatyana M. Ali, Producer and EVP of the Tyler Perry Studios, Roger M. Bobb, Walt Disney’s Ian Gooding and L.A.’s Promise, Nichol Whiteman will be honored at the 2011 Salute to Hollywood & the Arts at The Woman’s Club of Hollywood, Hollywood, California on Saturday, June 25 during the 2011 Caribbean-American Heritage Month celebrations.
The daughter of immigrants from the twin islands of Trinidad & Tobago and Panama, Tatyana M. Ali is one of America’s most talented and versatile actresses of screen and television. A Broadway-trained actress, singer, activist and graduate of Harvard University, audiences best recognize the New York native as Ashley, the youngest in the Banks household on NBC’s hit comedy, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. She has since appeared in such films as Glory Road and The Brothers. She currently stars in the TV One hit, Love that Girl.
Tatyana M. Ali
Roger M. Bobb was born in London, England of Guyanese parents and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Roger’s career in film began when he was accepted into the Director’s Guild of America’s prestigious Assistant Director Trainee program. With two hit shows currently on the air and eight films having been released in the last four years, all opening at #1 or #2 on their opening weekends, Tyler Perry Studios’ EVP Roger Bobb is without question one of the most successful producers working in the film and television industry today.
Award-Nominated Ian Gooding hails from St. Andrew, Jamaica. Ian Gooding began his career at Walt Disney Animation Studios in 1990. After seeing his award-winning student film, the head of effects at feature animation recruited Gooding to join the Disney team. Gooding came on board as an effects animator on the Prince and the Pauper. He worked in visual development and background keys on such films as Aladdin, Hercules, Mulan and Dinosaur before making his debut as art director on Disney’s first all CG animated feature, Chicken Little. He was the art director for The Princess and The Frog, which marked the studio’s much-anticipated return to the warmth and richness of 2-D, hand-drawn animation. Ian has been nominated for an Annie (the Oscars of the Animation) for Chicken Little and Princess and the Frog.
Jamerican Nichol Whiteman is Vice President of Development and Communications for L.A.’s Promise, formerly MLA Partner Schools. She directs all fundraising and communications efforts to increase annual funding and extend the organization’s brand. Prior to joining L.A.’s Promise, Nichol served as VP, Western Region Officer at the Jackie Robinson Foundation where she managed the annual JAZZ on the Grass benefit, successfully rallying Hollywood and corporate forces to raise money for college scholarships for students of color. Nichol spent 8 years in publishing and on Wall Street where she played key roles in integrated marketing plans and strategic collaborations for firms such as Black Enterprise Magazine, Essence Magazine and JP Morgan Chase.
The evening will be hosted by Los Angeles’ ABC7 Eyewitness News reporter Darsha Phillips.
Net proceeds from the event will help support the efforts of Haitian-born actor Jimmy Jean-Louis’ Hollywood Unites for Haiti (www.HUFH.org).
