On May 8, 2012, Neema gave the opening speech at the American Film Institute's Hollywood showcase for its Directing Workshop for Women.
Neema had been selected for the workshop in the early 1970s, plucked from a poor household in Harlem to take part in an intensive training program that she said had "changed my destiny." She went on to become the first African-American woman to direct a U.S. network sitcom, among many other credits.