Nkechi Okoro Carroll is a writer, producer, and actor. She is currently the executive producer for The CW drama All American.
Early life
Carroll was born in New York, but lived in many places while growing up, including Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Her parents are Nigerian and came to the United States for college but decided to stay. Her dad was a lawyer, and when Carroll was four years old, her family moved to Nigeria for her father's job. When she was eight, Carroll's parents split, and she moved with her mom to Côte d'Ivoire near her cousins. When she was living in Africa, she watched a lot of television, which shaped her view of the US. From the time she was young, she wanted to be a writer. Carroll was later sent to boarding school in Oxford, England and began performing at the Oxford Youth Theater. Carroll attended the University of Pennsylvania, where she received a BA in Economics and French in 1998. During her time at Penn, she was the president of the Pan African Student Association and acted in shows with the African American Arts Alliance. After completing college, she worked as an economist at the Federal Reserve and acted in small theaters in the evening. She speaks multiple languages. Carroll received a Masters degree in International Economics from New York University.
Career
In 2004, Carroll and her husband left New York and moved to Los Angeles to pursue Carroll's dream of writing in Hollywood. Her first writing job was on The Finder. When the show ended after one season, Carroll joined the writers on Bones. Carroll worked as a co-executive producer on Rosewood and The Resident. In March 2014, Carroll launched the group Black Women Who Brunch alongside Lena Waithe and Erika L. Johnson. The group is designed to connect black female writers working in the film industry. The group often meets at Carroll's house for potlucks. They provide job recommendations and resources for their members. The Hollywood Reporter did a story on the group's members in 2018. There were sixty-two members at the time and it was The Hollywood Reporter'slargest photo shoot at the time. In 2018, Carroll joined the crew of All American after the pilot episode, co-producing alongside April Blair, Greg Berlanti, and Sarah Schechter. In October 2018, Carroll took over as Executive Producer of the show, replacing Blair after Blair had to step down for personal reasons. Carroll was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for "Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series" for the All American episode "Hussle & Motivate", but ultimately did not win the award.
Personal life
Carroll is married to a high school teacher, Jonathan A. Carroll. The couple met briefly during their time at the University of Pennsylvania, but were not close. In April 2000, they both went to see a mutual friend perform at the Soul Cafe in New York City, where fellow University of Pennsylvania alumnus John Legend was the opener. Nkechi was there on a date with someone else, but soon after she and Jonathan began dating. They have two sons and currently live in Los Angeles. Carroll is a Christian. She was in the World Trade Center Annex when the planes hit the towers on September 11, 2001, and had to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. Carroll speaks multiple languages. Her favorite television show is Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
