Tanya Wright is a two-time SAG winner (Best Ensemble) for her portrayal of Crystal Burset in Orange is the New Black and spent 7 seasons as Deputy Kenya Jones on HBO’s True Blood. A graduate of the George School and Vassar College (where she was a literature major), Tanya worked at the New York Times, Estee Lauder and J. Crew as a copywriter before embarking on a career in The Arts. She has been an actor on countless critically acclaimed shows including 24, ER, The Good Wife and Madame Secretary. Tanya was a semi-finalist in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Oscars) Nicholl’s Screenwriting Competition and her script, Millicent, received an “8” on Hollywood’s The Blacklist (top 5%). Tanya received the Most Innovative Business Award from SOBRO for her haircare line, Hairiette. Moved by the pandemic, Tanya decided to pivot the beauty line to focus on children and education: Hairiette of Harlem is the story of an impatient 7 year old with galactic hair who goes on learning adventures with her friends Charlie the talking comb and Barbara the barrette.

Tanya is a graduate of Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education’s Learning Design, Innovation and Technology program (2022) Tanya’s Hairiette of Harlem children’s story-driven educational system for 5-8 year olds WON the Seedling Award for Most Promising Early Stage Venture for HIVE (Harvard Innovation and Ventures in Entrepreneurship) and the Education Entrepreneurship Fellowship. Hairiette was a semi-finalist in the Saul Zaentz Early Education Innovation Prize.

Tanya is the founder of Educators for Entertainment, an official Harvard club; she is also the author of Butterfly Rising and I Found God in My Hair. Tanya Wright is a native New Yorker.

The Hairiette of Harlem children’s book series is coming September, 2024! Wanna be notified of the debut date? Send an email to info@hairiette.com and put “Hairiette Books” in the subject line! Yeah!