Yolonda Brinkley

Yolonda Brinkley, the self-proclaimed global disruptor, is the creator of Diversity in Cannes (@beyond borders: Diversity in Cannes for Facebook @diversencannes IG), the independent film movement promoting inclusion at the Cannes Film Festival. Since its 2010 inception, with Yolonda at the helm, the initiative has emerged from a simple filmmaker symposium to a comprehensive movement, providing a platform for globally diverse filmmakers to be seen and heard at the Cannes Film Festival. More specifically, Diversity in Cannes promotes the presence of underrepresented content creators telling stories specific to marginalized populations and celebrates their achievements at the worlds most prestigious film festival. In ten short years, Yolonda has hosted hundreds of filmmakers from six continents, received thousands of short film submissions from at least 35 countries and has welcomed esteemed panelists. She was even nominated for a European Diversity Award in 2012 for her efforts to diversity the global film industry. Having only scratched the service of possibilities, Yolonda's expanding her efforts to include the production of her very first short film, which will make its world premiere at the 2020 Diversity Cannes Short Film Showcase. She's excited to celebrate 11 years of independently promoting inclusion at the Cannes Film Festival and invites you to follow her journey. SIDE NOTE: When she's not fighting #FortheCulture, she's writing resumes, cover letters, business plans, grant proposals, producing events and developing public relations strategy for actors, filmmakers and professional athletes.