Koyalee chanda biography

In her work with children’s media, Koyalee Chanda ’92 creates relatable content with representation in mind

For much of her 20-year career as a television director and producer, Koyalee Chanda was often “the only person of color in the room,” she recalls.

Today, as vice president for kids and animation at Hello Sunshine, the award-winning production company founded in 2016 by Reese Witherspoon, she is embracing the opportunity to open doors for other storytellers, while “dismantling the preconceived boxes” that limit the complexity of characters in children’s television.

Hello Sunshine, the mission-driven company behind hits such as “Big Little Lies,” “The Morning Show,” and “Little Fires Everywhere,” creates programming with “women at the center of the story,” explains Chanda, who joined the company in January.

“So we are now keying off that to do the same for girls—finding stories where the main female characters have agency