Nafeesa Monroe

Nafeesa Monroe was born in Northern California to a father of African-American and Haitian descent and a mother of German and Irish decent. Raised primarily by her mother in the largely white neighborhood of Palo Alto, California, Nafeesa's ethnicity and self-identity were constantly challenged. The arts, acting and spoken word, have been a way through which Nafeesa communicates her belief and understanding of identity, and the truth that she carries, that we are all the same at the core. At 10 years old Nafeesa made her acting debut with the Palo Alto Children's Theatre (PACT) as a Snowflake in "The Snow Queen of Ice." It was here that she caught "the bug" of performance. It was the first of more than 30 productions in which she appeared. PACT became her second home. Although in high school Nafeesa focused much of her energy on math and science, the arts never left her. She had a knack and curiosity for it all. Some of her starring roles included Ronnette in "Little Shop of Horrors,"