The Catalyze podcast: Oscars announcer and Forum emcee Janora McDuffie ’99 on reframing success

Catalyze

The year of 2022 has been a remarkable one for Janora McDuffie-Ryan ’99, an actress, voiceover artist, and host. The alumna catches up with Catalyze about the past eight months, which have included movie deals, hosting Kia’s launch event in Phoenix for their first-ever electric vehicle, attending Pride Celebrations at the White House and Vice President Harris’s residence, announcing the Institute for Responsible Citizenship’s 20th anniversary celebration at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., and, of course, serving as the first African American and openly gay female announcer for the 94th Academy Awards.
As a diehard Tar Heel fan, Janora also includes in her personal highlight reel for 2022 watching Coach K lose his last game and cheering on the UNC men’s basketball team at the Final Four championship game in New Orleans. Go Heels!
Janora sat down with Catalyze in August at her home in downtown Long Beach, California, following her return from a movie set in Atlanta. (The alumna will be in a Disney comedy and Christmas special starring none other than Ludacris!) We met up before an ‘Unleashing the Network’ event with Morehead-Cains at the home of Alec Hudnut ’87 that Janora organized with Ellie Teller ’18.
We talked about the illusion of “making it” in Los Angeles and elsewhere, what it was like to be behind the mic in Dolby Theatre for the Oscars, and Janora’s early career days, when she decided to leave the corporate world of consulting to chase her dreams in entertainment on the West Coast.
Janora will serve as the emcee for the 2022 Morehead-Cain Alumni Forum this October.

More about Janora

Janora has appeared in television shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, and This is Us, among others. Her portfolio also includes films, podcasts, and video games, and she’s represented companies as a speaker, moderator, interviewer, and host.

The alumna is also the managing partner of Cashmere and Gold Entertainment, an events and entertainment company, along with her wife. The two lead boat tours, including wine and cigar experiences, along Long Beach Marina.

Learn more about Janora.

Music credits

The intro music for this episode is by scholar Scott Hallyburton ’22, guitarist of the band South of the Soul.

How to listen

On your mobile device, you can listen and subscribe to Catalyze on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. For any other podcast app, you can find the show using our RSS feed.

Catalyze is hosted and produced by Sarah O’Carroll for the Morehead-Cain Foundation, home of the first merit scholarship program in the United States and located at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. You can let us know what you thought of the episode by finding us on Twitter or Instagram at @moreheadcain or you can email us at [e-mail].