Courtney B. Vance is a leading film, television and theater actor, known for roles in Fences, Law and Order, The Tuskegee Airmen, The People v. O. J. Simpson, and many other productions. He has won multiple awards including a Tony Award in 2013 and a primetime Emmy in 2016 and 2021. In 2024, he and his wife Angela Bassett were recognized as Artists of the Year by the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations. 

Vance works on many community-advocacy initiatives. As the president of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation in 2023, he raised over $15 million in three weeks for actors facing economic hardship. Vance also co-founded Bassett Vance Productions, a multi-media production company highlighting marginalized voices. They produced One Thousand Years of Slavery—The Untold Story, a docu-series featuring notable Black actors and their connections to the legacy of slavery. 

In his many media appearances, Vance upholds the importance of diversity and representation in Hollywood, including criticizing the Oscars for failing to recognize Black artists. Most recently, Vance has become  a staunch advocate for Black men’s mental health; his book The Invisible Ache chronicles Vance’s late-in-life experiences with therapy and promotes self-care as “an act of revolution” for Black men. 

Last May, Vance delivered the Harvard Alumni Day address.