Emmy winner Ashley Nicole Black grew up in Los Angeles, attending UC Santa Cruz for college. She created her own major, called performance studies, and after graduation moved to the Chicago area to begin a master’s degree program at Northwestern University.

Frustrated with grad school, Black attended a performance at The Second City with her parents and fell in love with comedy. After putting four years of work towards her PhD, she dropped out of the program to continue studying at The Second City Training Center. After performing with various groups at the theater, including the Diversity & Outreach program, she began teaching comedy writing for The Second City Training Center and performing around the city, creating a showcase for her fellow up-and-coming writers and performers.

In 2016, Black moved to New York after being hired to write for the TBS late night show, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, on which she also appears as a correspondent. Black has quickly become a major force in comedy, earning an Emmy Award in 2017 for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special.

Follow Ashley on Twitter: @ashleyn1cole