Priya Swaminathan

PRIYA SWAMINATHAN lived the dream of making movies and TV shows for 19 years. She helped launch Higher Ground productions, Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company, where she produced award-winning documentaries, films, and kids shows like Waffles + Mochi, Emmy-award winner Ada Twist, Scientist, and the NAACP award-winner We The People. Previously, she developed films for Spike Jonze, Johnny Knoxville, George Clooney, and Bennett Miller and was the head of development at Annapurna Pictures.

A few years ago, Priya decided to shake things up. She quit her job to head down a new path. She graduated from UCLA School of Nursing in June and is a new graduate nurse resident at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center where she works with oncology patients. She lives in Los Angeles with her family and hopes that someday she’ll convince her husband to get a big, fluffy dog.