Nkechi Okoro Carroll

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.[1][4][5] Her parents are Nigerian and came to the United States for college but decided to stay.[6][4] Her dad was a lawyer, and when Carroll was four years old, her family moved to Nigeria for her father's job.[6] When she was eight, Carroll's parents split, and she moved with her mom to Côte d'Ivoire near her cousins.[6] When she was living in Africa, she watched a lot of television, which shaped her view of the US.[4] From the time she was young, she wanted to be a writer.[4] Carroll was later sent to boarding school in Oxford, England and began performing at the Oxford Youth Theater.[6]

Carroll attended the University of Pennsylvania, where she received a BA in economics and French in 1998.[6][5] 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.[6] After completing college, she worked as an economist at the Federal Reserve and acted in small theaters in the evening.[6] She speaks multiple languages.[1]

Carroll received a master's degree in international economics from New York University.[5]

In 2004, Carroll and her husband left New York and moved to Los Angeles to pursue Carroll's dream of writing in Hollywood.[6] Her first writing job was on The Finder.[6] When the show ended after one season, Carroll joined the writers on Bones.[6] Carroll worked as a co-executive producer on Rosewood and The Resident.[1][7][5]

In March 2014, Carroll launched the group Black Women Who Brunch alongside Lena Waithe and Erika L. Johnson.[6][8] The group is designed to connect black female writers working in the film industry.[6] The group often meets at Carroll's house for potlucks.[8] They provide job recommendations and resources for their members.[8] The Hollywood Reporter did a story on the group's members in 2018.[9] There were sixty-two members at the time and it was The Hollywood Reporter's largest photo shoot at the time.[10]

In 2018, Carroll joined the crew of All American after the pilot episode, co-producing alongside April Blair, Greg Berlanti, and Sarah Schechter.[11][1][12] In October 2018, Carroll took over as executive producer of the show, replacing Blair after Blair had to step down for personal reasons.[1][4][2] 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.[13][14]

Carroll is married to a high school teacher, Jonathan A. Carroll.[6][4] The couple met briefly during their time at the University of Pennsylvania, but were not close.[6] 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.[6] Nkechi was there on a date with someone else, but soon after she and Jonathan began dating.[6] They have two sons and currently live in Los Angeles.[6][4]

Carroll is a Christian.[15] 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.[15] Carroll speaks multiple languages.[1] Her favorite television show is Buffy the Vampire Slayer.[6]

Nkechi Okoro Carroll at IMDb