Amy Poehler is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and director. After studying improv at Chicago's Second City and ImprovOlympic in the early 1990s, Poehler co-founded the improvisational-comedy troupe Upright Citizens Brigade. The group moved to New York City in 1996, where their act became a half-hour sketch-comedy series on Comedy Central in 1998. Along with other members of the comedy group, Poehler is a founder of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.

In 2001, Poehler joined the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL) as a cast member. From 2004 until 2008, she served as co-anchor of the show's news parody segment, Weekend Update. Poehler left SNL halfway through her eighth season to star as Leslie Knope in the sitcom Parks and Recreation, which she produced and starred in until 2015.

Poehler is an executive producer on the television series Welcome to Sweden, Broad City, Difficult People, Duncanville, Three Busy Debras, and Russian Doll. She frequently collaborated with Tina Fey on SNL and later acted with her in the feature films Mean Girls, Baby Mama, Sisters, and Wine Country. Fey and Poehler hosted the Golden Globe Awards four times in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2021. Poehler also provided voice acting roles for the animated films Shrek the Third, Horton Hears a Who!, Monsters vs. Aliens, Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil, Free Birds, and Inside Out.

In 2015, Poehler received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to television. She won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Musical or Comedy Series in 2014 and a Critics' Choice Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series in 2012. She and Fey won the 2016 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for co-hosting SNL.