In sharing the story of her life, career, and community influences, Taylor K. Shaw crafts a call to action in raising the primary question, “Who is invited to dream?” Shaw peels back the layers of inequity in her field and beyond — training, employing, and empowering diverse talent. In her address, she unveils how the opportunity to live an artful life with one’s imagination at the center can be democratized.
Taylor K. Shaw is a 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 Hollywood & Entertainment list honoree and 2021 Shadow & Act Rising Executive Award Winner.
She is the youngest CEO in the animation industry and one of the brightest game changers in Hollywood. She founded BWA Studios, the first and only animation studio designed to change the world of animation by consciously hiring Black women and animators of color.
BWA is an original content house that creates and develops both adult and children’s programming. Commercially, the company has created award-winning digital and television campaigns for the likes of Hulu, A&E, Warner Bros. Discovery, Mattel, and more.
In her corporate career, Shaw’s pioneering DEI efforts have left a lasting impact on several global media organizations including Vice Media and Netflix Animation Studios. She trains and develops executive, mid-level, and emerging talent to do excellent work while also giving them the tools to center equity in their roles. She believes a more equitable world begins with personal transformation. For this reason, she serves as a Partner & Transformational Coach at social impact agency Inspire Justice. She also holds a DEI certificate from Cornell University.
As a visionary creator and writer, Taylor is committed to creating liberating narratives that allow Black women to discover more of who they are. She has written a feature film for Actor/Activist Kendrick Sampson (Insecure, HBO). She is currently in development on two tv shows and two feature films.
Shaw has been featured in Deadline Hollywood, Emmy Magazine, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and the LA Times for her work empowering marginalized voices in entertainment