CR 043: Julie Ann Crommett on the Transformative Power of Inclusive Storytelling

The CEO, storyteller, educator, and podcast host discusses her efforts to bring a diversity of stories to the screen.

Photo courtesy of Julie Ann Crommett

You might not recognize Julie Ann Crommett by name, but she is a powerhouse in media and entertainment. For 16 years, Crommett has been a champion of inclusive storytelling, spearheading initiatives at NBCUniversal, Google, and Walt Disney Studios to increase diversity and representation both behind the camera and on the screen. While at Disney, she and her team contributed to numerous acclaimed projects, including Encanto, Soul, Coco, Black Panther, Raya and the Last Dragon, and West Side Story. Before that, she was the Entertainment Industry Educator in Chief at Google, where she worked to shift perceptions of computer science in mainstream media. (Thanks to her work, Bubbles of The Powerpuff Girls learned to code.)

Now, Crommett is the President of Collective Moxie, a consulting agency she launched in 2021 in order to assist companies and brands in developing more impactful, culturally inclusive narratives—work that she says is not optional, but m…