Biographie
Zakiya Young is a talented actress, singer, and playwright. She wrote, developed, and performed her solo show "Suburban Black Girl" at both the Ojai Playwrights Conference New Works Festival and the La Jolla Playhouse DNA New Works Festival. Her notable acting roles include TV appearances in Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin (MAX), Diarra From Detroit (BET+), Iron Fist (Netflix), and Orange is the New Black (Netflix). On Broadway, she has performed in Stick Fly, The Little Mermaid, and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Off-Broadway, she appeared in Storyville, earning an Audelco Award nomination. Her touring credits include Disgraced and Good People, while regional theater work features Familiar, Spamilton, Aida, Little Miss Sunshine, and It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman.
Zakiya was the vocalist for the LA Philharmonic's Beverly Hills Songbook series, and her background vocals can be heard across various genres, including the original Broadway cast recording of The Little Mermaid, BTS's Map of the Soul:7, and tracks by Dolly Parton, Gabriella Valdes, and Radmila Lolly. Her voice is also featured as Sakhmet in Asgard's Wrath 2, Ruby in FX's Little Demon, Lenora in the English dub of Pokémon Masters, Final Fantasy VII Remake, and in numerous audiobooks.
She maintains an active and engaged YouTube presence as Suburban Black Girl, where she shares fresh, humorous, and candid perspectives on politics, social justice, current events, dating, and religion. Zakiya earned a B.A. in Communication from the University of Pittsburgh and has taught at Stella Adler's Art of Acting Studio, AMDA, The Broadway Collective, and currently serves as an Adjunct Lecturer at the USC School of Dramatic Arts.
