Columbia News Q&A with Diverso’s Director of Programming

So, how do you really change the face of the entertainment industry? Shailha Alam, our Director of Programming and current student at Columbia University, answers these questions in a recent Q&A with Columbia News. She recounts her journey navigating STEM spaces as a freshman and later finding Diverso. She also expands on the Minority Report and Black Writers in Focus. Read the rest of the article here.

Q. How did you get involved with Diverso, and how long have you been its programming director?

A. During my first year of college when I was still at Columbia Engineering, I was in the middle of reevaluating my entire academic life, planning to transfer out, and I was desperate to do things that I actually enjoyed. I was also an anxious little freshman overwhelmed by everything and too nervous to join any clubs. However, I did sign up for a bunch of newsletters and mailing lists, so I saw an advertisement for Diverso in a random email.

Diverso was then just an idea—a student-run nonprofit that would democratize filmmaking. I was hooked immediately, and wanted to be a part of Diverso.

I have been obsessed with movies and TV shows since I was arguably too young to watch them, and I am drawn to entertainment for the same reason I was drawn to STEM: both of those spaces have a huge diversity problem, and I want to be the one to fix it. I applied for the programming director position because one of the responsibilities was to work on the website, and I thought that was close enough to computer science for me.

Now it's been over two years since I've joined Diverso, collaborating with people in Hollywood that I never thought I would have access to.