Valerie Butler-Newbern is a storyteller whose zest for performing spans all mediums. Valerie is a company member of Playground-Chicago, a non-profit playwright’s incubator. Some of her Playground-Chicago credits include but are not limited to “Mom” in Are You Scared Of The Dark, “Ida Lewis” in The Sea and Its Keeper, and “Boomer” in Stay Humble. Her film credits include Echoes of Freedom, The Mirror, Just a Cup of Coffee, In the Jungle and Identity - a 2023 Silver Telly Award winner. She can be seen in Sunday Evenings, a Chicago based web series. Her commercial & print credits include BD PureWick, ComEd, Illuminus, United Airlines, Zillow and Lume. Valerie’s a native Chicagoan. Her ability to utilize her life experiences as a former corporate information technology executive, wife, widow, mother, grandmother and friend fuel her ability to bring to life the characters she portrays.