meet naiya

Naiya is an actress, director, and writer based in Atlanta, Georgia as of September 2023; born in Washington D.C but raised in North Carolina, she has always identified more with her southern roots yet never picked up on the accent. She is the second youngest of five siblings, and the first of them to go to college! From a young age she has always loved performing, making her debut on stage as a Wise Man in a school Christmas pageant at the age of 3—though it wasn’t until she saw the premier of Cheetah Girls 2 that she realized she could make a career out of it. In addition to acting, she has proficient skills in many different creative pursuits including crocheting, painting, sculpting, and sewing!

In high school, she started out helping with the technical components of stage; aiding in the hair/makeup departments and even assistant stage managing some productions. Beginning her junior year she began to pursue the roles and duties of being onstage and has loved performing ever since.

Once in college, she found herself being challenged academically and within her own craft—furthering her love of connecting to audiences through art. She took the opportunity to join her program’s improv troupe, Instant Laughter in 2020, and has experimented with writing her own comedic material. During the height of COVID, she made her digital mainstage debut in the new work, Pheromone, in which she originated the role of Claudia. In recent years, she has done several student film projects and was the lead in a BFA thesis film titled To the Roof, which was a finalist for several film festivals. Naiya also has experience with directing scenes for her peers, which is a skill she would love to carry out later on in her career.

Her main passion is to create and provide equitable theatre and film opportunities for younger generations. She is actively seeking out projects written by diverse artists and members of communities whose stories are not being told. She believes that art is a powerful medium that can be used to inform and serve the public and is incredibly excited to be a part of this changing landscape!