Ren Hanami grew up in Huntington Beach, California with roots in Hawaii. Her parents were Alice Akimi Hanna of Japanese descent and James Arthur Hanna descended from the Clan Hannay and Sorbie Tower in south west Scotland. (en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorbie_Tower) Hanami is an a 2021 Inductee into the Asian Hall of Fame. She is known for being the long time National Chair of the SAG-AFTRA Asian Pacific American Media Committee and advocate for representation of Asian Pacific Islanders in entertainment. #RepresentationMatters. Hanámi is an award-winning actress and singer known for Raya and the Last Dragon (2021), This Is Us (2016) and Criminal Minds (2005). She is also an award-winning writer and director known for Like Last Night (2017) and Lizard Lesson (2016). She began her show business career as a singer and dancer at Disneyland and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater and a Certificate in Feature Film Writing from U.C.L.A. Hanami's self-produced CDs are "Akimi: Songs For My Mom," "Alien" and "Private Island."