Shelby Kovant is a development executive specializing in social impact entertainment. She recently served as the Deputy Program Director of the grassroots diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility mentorship initiative #Startwith8Hollywood. Pre-pandemic, Shelby helped Disney expand their upper-level talent pipeline to be more inclusive and produced a flagship report for UCLA’s Skoll Center entitled The State of Social Impact Entertainment. Prior to that, she worked in development for production companies Bold Films (WHIPLASH, DRIVE, NIGHTCRAWLER) and Caviar (DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL, THE RIDER) and got her start in Los Angeles at ICM Partners in the independent film packaging, financing, and sales department. Shelby had a career as an ad agency producer in her native New York before making the move out west and holds a BA in Psychology and Certificate in Documentary Studies from Duke University.