VALENCIA YEARWOOD

Featured Performer

DANCE Soloist, Dance Theatre of Harlem COMMERCIALS Principal Performer, national. List on request. VOICEOVERS Commercials & PSAs (TV & Radio) RECORDINGS Background Vocals for South African singer Faca Kulu TRAINING

B.S. Pre-Med, Syracuse University

Acting: Fred Kareman, Tony Greco, Tracey Moore-Marabel, Gene Frankel, Salem Ludwig (HB Studio) Voice: Mary Rodgers, Beth Falcone, Melvin Jordan, Mat Farnsworth Dance: Ballet, Jazz, Tap & Modern (Dance Theatre of Harlem) Improvisation: Joan Rosenfels (Ensemble Studio Theatre), Salem Ludwig Commercials: Joan See (School for Film & Television), Nina Dova Voiceovers: Tyrone Jackson, Wendy Dillon

SPECIAL SKILLS

Swim, Aerobics, Bowling, Driver’s License (Stick/Automatic)

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Diane Marie Weathers is presently captivating a variety of audiences as a Freelance Writer and Lecturer.  A first novel is in the making and she never steers shy of sharing her experience/knowledge in her non fiction.  She is accredited for freelance articles appearing in Readers Digest, Ebony and Essence.  She has appeared as a guest lecturer at Syracuse University, Rutgers University, and Essex County Community College.  She captures the attention of people around the world through her guest appearances on the Oprah Winfrey Show, August 2007, Hip Hop Town Hall Meeting, and BET, October 2007, “Hip Hop vs. America,” to name a few.  Diane is known as a visionary leader with a strong track record for conceptualizing and packaging fresh and innovative editorial content.

She is a member of the Board of Trustees at Syracuse University and Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence.

Diane Marie Weathers began her career as an avid writer/reporter and Washington Bureau Correspondent for Newsweek covering a plethora of assignments.  After leaving Newsweek, she established her passion working for the United Nations World Food Program.  She helped organize and lead press missions to relief operations in Sudan, Iraq, Mozambique, Cambodia and other areas in the Asia, Africa and the Middle East.  She also served as WFP’s Nairobi-based press spokesperson on Operation Life Sudan, the first major U.N. relief effort to transport emergency relief supplies into southern Sudan.  She then dove into her creative side, and began working for Essence Magazine as an Articles Editor where she cultivated relationships with leading writers such as Pulitzer Prize-winner journalist Isabel Wilkerson and authors Bell Hooks, and John Wideman.  Here she received awards for outstanding feature writing from the  National Association of Black Journalists for “Death of a Super Woman,” “Stop the Guns” and “Foster Care in Crisis.”  From there, she entered a different field working for Consumer Reports as an Associate Editor where she had the opportunity to work closely with product engineers to re-package technical reports into breezy, reader-friendly copy.  Then it was back to Essence Magazine where she cultivated society as the Editor in Chief.  Here she launched major initiatives vastly improving covers, cover lines and overall editorial content.  She is well-known for helping the magazine gain industry-wide acclaim for double digit percentage increases in monthly news stand sales, developing a mentor system for junior editors and for strengthening the network of freelance writers and columnists.

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