Anayansi Prado was born in Panama and moved to the United States as a teenager. She directed and produced the award-winning documentaries Maid in America (2004) about Latina domestic workers in LA; Children in No Man’s Land (2008) about unaccompanied minors crossing the US/Mexico border; and Paraiso for Sale (2011) about American retirees moving to Panama -- all which were broadcasted nationally on PBS. In April 2018, Prado release her latest independent feature documentary, The Unafraid, about DACAmented students in the Georgia, a state that bans undocumented students from attending their top public universities and from qualifying for in-state tuition. She produced and co-directed the film with fellow documentary filmmaker Heather Courtney.​ The Unafraid premiered at the Full Frame Film festival where it was awarded the Kathleen Bryan Edwards Human Rights Award. 

Anayansi is a Rockefeller Media Fellow, a Creative Capital Artist and has received support from The MacArthur Foundation, The Ford Foundation, Tribeca Film Institute, Chicken & Egg Pictures, The Fledgling Fund, Latino Public Broadcasting, ITVS and others.

As an instructor, Ms. Prado works on a regular basis with the State Department’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs by serving as a Film Expert for the American Film Showcase. She has taught documentary production in China, Venezuela, France, Jordan, Mozambique, Myanmar, Angola, Nicaragua, Colombia, Bosnia, Singapore, Panama and Paraguay. Anayansi has also taught film at UCLA's School of Film & Television, California State University, Northridge, Journalism Department, and at Chapman University's Dodge School of Film & Media Arts.

Anayansi attended Boston University where she received a B.A. in Film. She resides in Los Angeles, CA.