Sharese Bullock-Bailey is the Festival Director and Chief Innovation Officer at Urbanworld Foundation. Sharese has funded, distributed, and curated independent media globally for the past 20 years. She has led service and international education programs in over 20 countries, including filmmaking exchanges for young producers and educators throughout the UK and India. She is an Emmy-nominated producer, strategic consultant and leader in social impact storytelling. 

Sharese recently served as Chief Strategist and Partnership Officer at Ghetto Film School, Director of Tribeca Teaches, a filmmaking residency at Tribeca Film Institute, and was selected by the Ford Foundation as a 2015 Rockwood JustFilms Fellow and as a 2016 New York Community Trust Leadership Fellow. Sharese is a trustee at The Frick Collection and an Executive Board Member of ITVS (Independent Television Service).

Sharese received a BA in Communications at The University of Pennsylvania, then participated in the Financial Analyst program at Goldman Sachs. She also served as a Teach For America Corps Member, earning a M.S. in Education while teaching in her hometown of Brownsville, Brooklyn.