Alana I. Smith is a junior Television & Film major and Business minor from Sacramento, California. With her passion and determination, she is pursuing filmmaking to educate the masses, elevate our differences, and embrace our connectedness through the art of storytelling. On campus, Smith is currently the President of Cathy Hughes School of Communications Student Council. She has written, directed, and produced three short films: Wake Up, Forgotten, and Too Fresh 4 School. For her work on Wake Up, Smith was named “HBCU Filmmaker of the Year” in 2021 by the National Black Movie Association.  A grant recipient of the Black Artist Fund and Da Cypher Youth Creative Fund, Smith has upcoming projects in development. In addition to media coverage on local television, she was recently featured on “The Rise” series for The Grio presented by AT&T.