Nafeesa Monroe was born in Northern California to a father of African-American and Haitian descent and a mother of German and Irish descent. Raised primarily by her mother in the largely white neighborhood of Palo Alto, California, Nafeesa's ethnicity and self-identity were constantly challenged.
Nafeesa made her acting debut at 10 years old with the Palo Alto Children's Theatre (PACT) as a Snowflake in "The Snow Queen of Ice." It was here that she caught "the bug" of performance. She appeared in more than 30 productions, including Ronnette in "Little Shop of Horrors," Fastrada in "Pippin," Mary Magdalene in "Jesus Christ Super Star," Helena in "The Mystery of Edwin Drood," and Julia in "The Wedding Band."
In college, Nafeesa featured in the student films "Malled Over" and "Coming Out." Her theatre roles included Lady in Purple in "for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbo is enuf," Ophelia in "Hamlet Machine," and Angel in "Jose Rivera's Marisol."
After moving to Los Angeles, Nafeesa studied at the Meisner-Carville School of Acting. She starred in the features "A State of Mind," "The Truth, The Pain, The Sacrifice: An Actor's Reality" and the short film "Unwelcome" for which she received a Best Actress in a Horror Film nomination from the Eerie Horror Film Festival in 2004.
Nafeesa has also co-starred on several television shows. Her Los Angeles theatre credits include A. LaShaun Lee in Michael Ajakwe Jr.'s "Company Policy" and an award-winning performance in the ensemble cast of Levy Lee Simon's Trilogy "For The Love Of Freedom" as Praise Singer Gold, Queen Claire and Letitia.
As a talented Spoken Word Artist, Nafeesa was recognized for her passion and ability and hand picked by multi-platinum recording artist Jewel to open for several of her "This Way" Summer Tour dates as a part of Soul City Cafe. She also appeared on the fourth season of "Russell Simmon's Def Poetry" on HBO.
Nafeesa's debut album, Super Woman, is a collection of her most intimate spoken word pieces. A preliminary pressing sold out while on tour with Jewel and has been intriguing and engaging people from all walks of life and ethnic backgrounds.
Most recently, Nafeesa has been participating with two performance groups, "Be the Change" and the "SuperSHEroes," both of which regularly perform for Neale Donald Walsch's Humanity's Team, a movement created to raise the consciousness of the individual and thus raising the consciousness of the world. Both "Be the Change" and "SuperSHEroes" perform with the intent to uplift, encourage and inspire, a message towards which Nafeesa's artistry tends.
