An award-winning director and actor, Karena is a visionary artist who tells meaningful stories across film, music, and television.

Karena is driven by her love of story and its deeper meaning. With a persistent craving for truth and curiosity about human potential, she is fascinated by the capacity of the heart – how it shifts and transforms through conflict and relationships. Through a stylized, sensitive and intimate lens, her culturally rooted work explores diverse narratives about the human condition.

She is the first woman to be honored with the prestigious Prism Prize Lipsett Award in 2018. She took home ‘Best Director’ at the 2018 Much Music Video Awards, ‘Director of the Year’ at the 2019 BET Awards and the 2018 BET Hip-Hop Awards, as well as ‘Video of the Year’ at the 2018 BET Awards for Drake’s ‘God’s Plan.’ She also won the Grand Prix at Cannes Lions in 2020 for the first of its kind, interactive experience ‘Swipe Night’ for Tinder.

Whether behind the camera or in front, Karena strives to represent the underrepresented.