Lili, whose ancestry is Cuban-Jamaican-Spanish-Chinese-British, was born in Santiago de Cuba. She is the fourth of six children born to (husband and wife) José Rodríguez Bernard and Georgina Pallerols Thompson (Chung). Lili was a toddler when her family moved to the United States. The family settled in New Jersey, where the living room turntable emanated sounds of Celia Cruz and Bruce Springsteen and the kitchen stove emitted aromas of fried plantain and apple pie. From a very early age, Lili began exhibiting her thespian and fine art inclinations. As a young child, in the backyard and basement of her New Jersey home, Lili produced and starred in a plethora of wacky plays, which she wrote herself. Lili used her artistic capabilities to create fancifully painted backdrops, curtains and theatrical posters.

At the age of sixteen, Lili's family moved to Tokyo, where Lili graduated from the American School in Japan. In Tokyo, as a teenager, Lili enjoyed acting on Japanese television and exposing her artwork in exhibitions. While in high school in Tokyo, Lili guest-starred as Maria, a flamenco dancer, in the popular Japanese prime-time dramatic TV series, "Ona no Kaikyo" which translates to "Women of the Straights of Gibraltar." Upon graduation from high school, Lili entered the fine arts program at Cornell University, where she also studied theatre, biology and German. Completing three years at Cornell, Lili left for New York City, where she trained in theatre for several years under Sonia Moore and received her B.A. in German from the City University of New York. After theatrical rehearsals and performances, Lili used to come home to her Harlem apartment and paint.

Lili's extensive New York City theatre credits include performances at notable Off-Broadway houses such as the Puerto-Rican Traveling Theatre Co., Nat Horne Theatre, INTAR, American Renaissance Theatre, Theatre for the New City, Henry Street Settlement, The Pearl Theatre, Cooper Square Theatre, Frank Silvera's Writers Workshop and Plays for Living, among others. Lili's exposure in theatre led to work in TV and film. On the second-to-the-last episode of "The Cosby Show," Lili played the zany and very pregnant Mrs. Minifield. Bill Cosby wrote, "Lili maintains a beautiful naturalness on camera." Variety commended Lili for her portrayal as Harlan's Nurse in the CBS TV miniseries, "Stephen King's Golden Years." In the BBC film, "Murder in Oakland," Lili played the female lead, Lili Kennedy, opposite Ving Rhames and Eriq LaSalle. Reviewing Lili's work in the BBC film, TV critic Sean Day-Lewis (brother of Daniel Day-Lewis) wrote in London's Sunday Telegraph, "A nerve tuggingly effective performance by Lili Bernard, full of pain, guilt and fear."

Enjoying some success as a TV and film actress in New York City, Lili moved to Los Angeles in 1993, where she continued doing theatre. She was a regular in the UCLA Players Theatre Company and performed as the lead, Maggie, in an all-Black stage production of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." In 1994, Lili played Anna, Kramer's Black girlfriend, on the hit TV sit-com "Seinfeld." A year later, Lili married civil rights attorney Franklin Ferguson. Two years after their marriage, Lili gave birth to the first of five boys whom she bore in a seven year span! Today, Lili, Franklin and their five sons live in Los Angeles, where Lili founded the City of Angels Little League and ¡HABLA! Harvesting Asian, Black, Latino Artist, both nonprofit youth organizations. Amidst the bustle child rearing and PTO board meetings, Lili paints prolifically in her Chinatown studio-showroom, located in Los Angeles' premiere art gallery district on Chung King Road. Though her creative focus is on painting, Lili joyfully welcomes work in acting.