YVETT MERINO (Producer, Walt Disney Animation Studios) is the Academy Award®- winning producer of “Encanto,” and the first Latina to receive the Oscar® for Animated Feature. Merino first arrived at Walt Disney Animation Studios more than 25 years ago, and has worked in a variety of production capacities on some of the most popular animated features of all time.

Among her most recent credits, she served as production manager on the Oscar®-winning feature, “Big Hero 6,” as well as the Oscar®-nominated “Moana.” Launching her Disney Animation career in the Technology department, she moved into the world of Production as a supervisor on “Tangled”, “The Lion King 3D”, and on “Wreck-It Ralph”. Merino was also a part of the team that started Voces@Disney, the Studio’s first Latinx employee resource group, where she served as co-president for two years.

Merino lives in Los Angeles, Calif., with her family. She holds an MBA from Loyola Marymount University and an undergraduate degree in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.