Andrea Navedo

Andrea Navedo is an actress, speaker and published author who was born and raised in The Bronx. You may recognize her from the Golden Globe nominated TV show “Jane the Virgin,” in which she starred as Xiomara, Jane’s mother. She has an extensive acting resume which includes playing opposite Will Smith in the Netflix film “Bright”, Luis Guzman’s girlfriend in HBO’s “How to Make it in America” and the role of Valerie in ABC’s “A Million Little Things”.

Navedo graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx before going on to SUNY Old Westbury College where she graduated with a BA in Theatre Arts. Because of the success of “Jane the Virgin”, she was invited to give the commencement speech to the class of 2019. There she shared some of her lessons learned growing up in the Bronx. Inspired by the rave response that she received from the students at Clinton she decided to continue sharing the messages from her speech in a book she penned “Our Otherness is Our Strength: Wisdom from the Boogie Down Bronx,” which was released in July 2023.  Additionally, she further shared those messages in a TEDx talk that she delivered in April 2024 at the University of the Pacific.

Navedo is involved in various charities including A Place Called Home, which helps children in Los Angeles stay in school, go to college and take ownership of their lives.  She is also involved in the Fresh Air Fund that sends NYC kids to summer camp. Inspired by the great experience she had as a Fresh Air camper herself, she continues to support the organization and give back in many ways one of them being as the Host of their 2023 Spring fundraising gala.