Arsema Thomas, Actor; Founder, Enki

Acting with Others in Mind

Dearest readers, you’ve no doubt heard about Arsema Thomas (MCS 2016) and their breakout role as Lady Agatha Danbury in 2022’s “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.”

A prequel to the blockbuster Netflix series, the show tells a late-1700s royal love story — and the beginnings of a 50-year friendship between the title character and a person of society, a new confidante and adviser.

“Lady Danbury is to me what a backbone looks like,” says Arsema, who only started to pursue their dream of an acting career in 2018 after earning their master’s of public health at Yale University and completing the college’s prestigious Summer Drama Program after graduation.

“She does not falter to anyone and has such a strong sense of self. They’re two steps ahead of everyone because of the way the world worked, and still works, for women.”

Conversations on gender and race are central to the show’s storyline, and the same discussions drive Arsema’s priorities off-screen, too.

The child of two diplomats who “grew up everywhere,” Arsema spent many years in sub-Saharan African nations. That led to an awareness and interest in global and Pan-Africanism affairs.

A plan to impact health care on the continent brought Arsema to CMU where they earned their bachelor’s degree in biological sciences and participated in CMU in Haiti, Habitat for Humanity, and Minority Association for Pre-Health Students (MAPS) where they led community service efforts.

"I'm a nerd at heart,” says Arsema. “I love work, and if it's work that I really care about, it doesn't feel like work.”

During their graduate studies, they founded the now-shuttered Mosaic, an online networking tool for refugees to connect their skill sets with needs in their area, and Enki, an SMS-based app that helps women in rural Kenya to monitor their menstrual cycles and subscribe to a discreet delivery of female condoms to combat the spread of HIV and AIDS. The company is currently working through the FDA and patent processes to create its own condoms.

“I feel a lot of pressure to do this work while knowing that it will never be done, and I may not see the effects of what I try to accomplish,” Arsema says. “The foundation of everything I do is figuring out how to make unfair things more fair and create stability for more people.”

Story by Amanda S.F. Hartle