Dr. Mehret Mandefro is Founder and President of the production company Truth Aid. She is a filmmaker and interdisciplinary scholar who draws from her background as a medical anthropologist and public health physician to craft textured narrative that explore the social determinants of health. She was a Fulbright Scholar, a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar, and a White House Fellow. Her HIV research is the subject of a full feature documentary called All of Us that premiered on Showtime Networks. She has also worked in the Obama administration as a health policy advisor in the Office of the Secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs. She was most recently Chief Medical Officer of Amida Tech and on faculty in the Department of Health Policy at the George Washington School of Public Health and Health Services.

Mehret produced and co-wrote Little White Lie, an award-winning and critically acclaimed documentary about dual identity and family secrets which was the top-rated show on PBS’s Independent Lens during the 2014-2015 season. She also produced the narrative film Difret which won audience awards at the Sundance and Berlin Film Festivals and was released theatrically around the world and is currently on Netflix. Mehret has a BA from Harvard University and an MD from Harvard Medical School. Mehret also serves on the Board of Directors of the international reproductive health organization EngenderHealth as the Chair of Public Affairs and Development.