Marissa Ghavami is an actor, singer, voice over artist, model and advocate. Her work in the entertainment industry spans theatre, film, television, cabaret, commercial, radio and print. She has acted in David Chase's (Emmy-winning creator of the hit HBO show The Sopranos (1999) theatrically released feature film Not Fade Away (2012)., starring James Gandolfini, et. al. as well as on CBS's Without a Trace (2002). She has starred in dozens of theatrical productions. She has sung at the legendary Apollo Theatre in New York City on NBC's It's Showtime at the Apollo (1987) and been named their "Star of Tomorrow." It was there that she was discovered by the show's producer, living legend Suzanne De Passe (Motown, The Jackson 5). She has also sung at New York City hot spot 54 Below and was the runner up in the LA's Next Great Stage Star Competition. She has done voice over work for such widely known brands as McDonald's, Ford and JCPenney. Additionally, she has done commercial and print work for PepsiCo's AMP Energy Drink, Kroger, Girl Scout Cookies, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Vartali Hair Salon in New York City. In 2012 she completed a two-year actor training program at The William Esper Studio, the world's foremost studio dedicated to Meisner-based actor training, and has studied singing with Seth Riggs and Liz Caplan. She is a 2015/2016 ASTEP (Artists Striving To End Poverty) Fellow and participant in the 2015 Artist As Citizen Conference at Juilliard. She is the winner of the "Way To Go Woman Award" for Today's Woman Magazine, featured in the September 2016 issue. She is featured in Nancy Miller's book One Hundred Fascinating Louisville Women and was given a mayoral proclamation of Marissa Ghavami Day in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. In 2014, she founded Healing TREE (Trauma Resources, Education & Empowerment) and currently serves as the nonprofit's Chief Executive Officer (www.healingtreenonprofit.org). She is passionate about merging the arts and advocacy, using the arts as both a healing tool and a platform for positive change. Marissa has two Bengal mix cat rescues, Sebastian and Viola and resides in New York City.