Laverne Cox

With various ‘firsts’ in her already impressive career, Laverne Cox is a four-time Emmy-nominated actress, an Emmy-winning producer, and a prominent equal rights advocate and public speaker.  Laverne's groundbreaking role of “Sophia Burset” in the critically acclaimed Netflix original series Orange is The New Black brought her to the attention of diverse audiences all over the world. This role led to Laverne becoming the first openly transgender actress to be nominated for a Primetime acting Emmy and made her the first Trans woman of color to have a leading role on a mainstream scripted television series. Laverne is the red-carpet host of Live From E! and hosts The Laverne Cox Show podcast for Shondaland and iHeart. Next up, Laverne will star in Clean Slate for Amazon Freevee. She executive produced the series with Norman Lear’s Act III Productions and Sony Pictures Television.

Laverne is an inspiring advocate with an empowering message of moving beyond gender expectations to live more authentically. Laverne is the first openly transgender person to appear on the covers of TIME Magazine, British Vogue, Cosmopolitan magazine and Essence magazines, among others. She was named one of Glamour magazine’s 2014 Women of the Year.  Laverne also proudly holds two SAG Awards, winning them with her Orange Is the New Black cast mates for “Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.” Other accolades include a Critic’s Choice nomination for “Best Supporting Actress,” and consecutive NAACP Image Award nominations for “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.”