April Reign
April Reign practiced law for over 15 years, with an emphasis on campaign finance law and reform, but her life took an unexpected turn when her commentary on the lack of people of color represented in the 2015 Oscars nominations compelled her to tweet a now-famous hashtag: #OscarsSoWhite.
See April Reign in action.
Former lawyer and creator of hashtag #OscarsSoWhite continues to advocate for diversity and inclusion.
The hashtag turned into a movement that effected tangible change: The Academy made its most systemic change in its 90+ year history by committing to doubling the number of women and the number of people of color in its voting membership. The hashtag also branded a diversity and inclusion movement that was reaching a tipping point and a social and racial justice revolution was born.
As CEO of ReignStorm Ventures, April advocates for the representation of marginalized communities in all areas of the arts, entertainment and tech through speaking engagements, activations, digital and traditional media, corporate consulting and lending her voice to festivals, panels, higher learning institutions and other related efforts.
When April is not advocating for traditionally underrepresented communities, she’s recounting stories of living with a very strong-minded teenage daughter and revealing to her 160k social media followers that she’s a huge pop culture nerd.
