Kendra develops, produces and supervises talent diversity initiatives for NBC. Most notable, NBC’s Stand-Up for Diversity nationwide talent search, NBC Universal Short Cuts Film Festival, various talent scholarships and talent showcases. These programs create a pipeline for diverse talent and opportunities on NBC Universal television series. Kendra is also responsible for tracking the network’s placement of diverse talent in front of the camera. Prior to joining NBC, Kendra was a casting and talent development executive at Spike TV. She began her career as a casting assistant and associate for several high profile casting directors in Los Angeles for film and television.

Karen is responsible for overseeing primetime diversity programs for NBC and Universal Media Studios. Her primary focus is heading NBC’s Writers on the Verge Program and the Director Fellowship Program while overseeing NBC's Diversity Staffing Initiative and NBC's Content creator program with the Canadian Film Centre, and working with the creative programming team to identify diverse development. Before joining NBC, Horne served as Director, Creative Affairs, at IDT Animation in Burbank. She designed, implemented and oversaw Nickelodeon’s Writer Fellowship Program. Horne also was a Director, Writer Development & Special Projects for the Walt Disney Studios Fellowship Program, and also worked at HBO in Los Angeles as a Co-producer for the Emmy Award-winning animated series “Spawn.” Her early career includes stints at ABC, Inc. in Los Angeles as an Executive Assistant to the President, ABC Entertainment, as well as positions at ABC Television Network Group and ABC Sports.

Shannon is responsible for assisting in the production and execution of initiatives focused on increasing on-camera diversity. She also manages content of the monthly diversity newsletter, DiverseCityNBC.com, which highlights talent, events, and opportunities related to diversity in entertainment. Before joining the Talent Diversity Initiatives team, Shannon worked in the Brand Strategy & Promotions department at the NBC Agency where she worked on many projects-- most notable, the NBC Fall launch 2009. Shannon is a Minnesota native and graduated with a degree in Political Science and Communications at The University of Minnesota.

Julie Ann is responsible for executing behind-the-camera diversity initiatives including the NBC Director Fellowship Program. She also coordinates diverse behind-the-camera staffing, formulates & implements new initiatives, tracks diverse talent & coordinates digital outreach for all our behind-the-camera diversity programs. Previously, she was an NBCU Entertainment Associate at Universal Cable Productions in both current programming & development and originally joined NBCU as a Coordinator of Entertainment Diversity Initiatives. Julie Ann hails from San Juan, Puerto Rico & Atlanta, GA and graduated with a degree in English & American Literature from Harvard University.

Jimmy is responsible for assisting the organization and execution of behind-the-camera diversity initiatives such as Writers on the Verge, the Diversity Staffing Initiative and the Directing Fellowship. He also consistently tracks diverse talent through the programs above as well as through NBC’s programs with the NHMC, Canadian Film Centre and NAACP. Jimmy previously worked as an NBC page on The Tonight Show. Jimmy was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and graduated with a degree in Political Science and Cultural Studies/Comparative Literature from the University of Minnesota.