Marya Bangee

Governing Board | Vice President, RISE, Walt Disney Studios.

Marya Bangee is the Vice President of the RISE (Representation, Inclusion Strategies and Engagement) team at the Walt Disney Studios. In this role, she works as a creative thought partner with the heads of the different studios under the Disney umbrella, including Marvel, Lucas, Pixar, 20th Century, and Searchlight, on telling culturally representative stories through film and television that are seen by billions of people globally. Her team is responsible for furthering representation across the Studios through content advisement; market strategies; talent acquisition and retainment; and Disney’s Launchpad, which is an incubator for diverse emerging filmmakers.

Previously, Marya was the Executive Director of Harness, an organization started by America Ferrera, Wilmer Valderrama, and Ryan Piers Williams to center the stories of
underrepresented communities in Hollywood. Through her work at Harness, Marya worked with networks, studios, and culture shapers to promote new narratives within
popular culture. 

She also ran her own company, SILA Consulting, which advised on film and television projects, including acting as the lead consultants on Disney’s live-action Aladdin and Ms. Marvel.

Marya Bangee is passionate about helping build communities. She started her journey as a community organizer in the Muslim American community where she often represented the community in national media like the New York Times and NPR. She was a Dean’s Merit Scholar at USC and a Ford Foundation Fellow.