Erica Hubbard is an American actress and model. Hubbard grew up in Chicago. Hubbard is best known for her roles as Kiana Anderson in the 2006 film ''

Akeelah and the Bee ''Akeelah and the Bee'' is a 2006 American drama film written and directed by Doug Atchison. It tells the story of Akeelah Anderson ( Keke Palmer), an 11-year-old girl who participates in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, her mother ( Angela ...

'', Cassandra "Cassie" Sutton on the

ABC Family American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...

series '' Lincoln Heights'' (2007–09) and Kita Whitmore on '' Let's Stay Together'' (2011–14) on the BET network. She is also the voice of Abbey for the TV series '' The Replacements''. She created "The Erica Hubbard Foundation" to help youth in at-risk communities.

Life and career

Hubbard attended Columbia College in Chicago where she majored in

Broadcast Journalism Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

and minored in Theater and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in three years. The show aired on WPWR, a

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that operated from 1995 to 2006. It was originally a joint venture between Chris-Craft Industries (later sold to News Corporation)'s subsidiary, United Television, ...

affiliate in Chicago. By the time the third season had started airing, she had already won a Regional Emmy award for hosting the show and earned a Service To America Award from the

National Association of Broadcasters The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is a Industry trade group, trade association and lobbying, lobby group representing the interests of commercial and non-commercial over-the-air radio and television broadcasting, broadcasters in th ...

. She began acting since the age of nine in commercials for

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

Reebok Reebok International Limited ( ) is an American footwear and clothing brand that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company which had bee ...

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

Kellogg's Kellanova, formerly known as the Kellogg Company and commonly known as Kellogg's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, US. Kellanova produces and markets con ...

, MCI, and others. Hubbard also appeared in magazine ads for

Noxzema Noxzema ( ) is an American brand of skin cleanser marketed by Elida Beauty. Since 1914, it was sold in a small cobalt blue jar; but is now sold in a blue plastic jar. Noxzema contains camphor, menthol, phenol and eucalyptus, among other ingredien ...

in 1997. She has appeared in the films ''

Simon Says Simon Says is a children's game for three or more players. One player takes the role of "Simon" and issues instructions (usually physical actions such as "jump in the air" or "stick out your tongue") to the other players, which should be foll ...

'', ''

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants ''The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants'' is a series of five bestselling Young adult literature, young adult novels by Ann Brashares: ''The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (novel), The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2001),'' ''The Second S ...

'', ''

Save the Last Dance ''Save the Last Dance'' is a 2001 American dance film produced by MTV Films, directed by Thomas Carter and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film stars Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas as a teenage interracial couple in Chicago who ...

'', '' A Cinderella Story'', as well as numerous television series including '' Lincoln Heights'', '' CSI: Miami'', and ''

Everybody Hates Chris ''Everybody Hates Chris'' (stylized in all lowercase) is an American semi-autobiographical sitcom created by Chris Rock and Ali LeRoi that originally aired on UPN from 2005 to 2006, and then on The CW until 2009. The series is based loosely ...

''. Before appearing on TV and Firm, Hubbard started out modeling with Ford. Ford's modelling agency told Hubbard that she needed an agency to assist with television and film. Hubbard founded her own nonprofit called the 'Erica Hubbard Foundation'. Hubbard was inspired to create it because I she grew up on the South Side of Chicago, and was exposed to a lot of violence. The Erica Hubbard Foundation sees Hubbard visiting community centers, high schools, elementary schools, and churches and talking to children. "I encourage them to stay in school and stay off of the streets" says Hubbard. Hubbard continued her pursuit in giving back by making an appearance on Pop soul RnB artist DeAna Fai's podcast "DeAna Fai presents Kings and Queens of Entertainment Reunion Recap and Giveback," along with other celebrities supporting the National Breast Cancer Foundation (United States) and the

American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate Heart, cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Podcast

References

External links

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Erica Hubbard Interview

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hubbard, Erica Actresses from Chicago Living people American television actresses American film actresses 20th-century African-American actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century African-American actresses 21st-century American actresses Female models from Illinois African-American female models Columbia College Chicago alumni 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people Year of birth missing (living people)