Shepard Nevel
Executive Producer
IMDb

Shepard is CEO of the Institute of Evidence-based Policymaking, and former director of policy and research for Colorado Governor Jared Polis. He served previously as president and CEO of LiveWell Colorado and Vice President of the Colorado Health Foundation. Earlier in his career, Shepard served as director of policy for Denver Mayor Wellington Webb and as an assistant county attorney in Miami-Dade County, where he was counsel to the Public Health Trust (which operates Jackson Memorial Hospital and the region’s public health system) and the Port of Miami. He is a graduate of Brown University and Columbia Law School.

 

In the last few years, Shepard has worked with director Cynthia Cazañas Garin and the team at Ajar Film Productions as executive producer on several award-winning documentaries, including 16 Heartbeats, chronicling the history, revitalization, and future of Denver's 16th Street; Tepeyac: Legacy of Health (2025), an inspirational story about the transformation of a community health center; The Art of Growth (2024), a compelling look at the power of the arts to inspire, educate and enrich lives; Nothing Safer (2024), which follows incarcerated women who participate in a prison dog-training program, gaining skills, self-esteem, and income; and Fábrica de Arte Américas (2023), which highlights a remarkable cultural venue recreated in Denver as part of the first Cities Summit of the Americas.  

 

Shepard is the author of several plays, including Pepper, about the late U.S. Congressman Claude Pepper, and Mystical Water, based in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba in the 1950s. Pepper was performed at the Colony Theatre in Miami Beach and received formal recognition in the Congressional Record. Mystical Water had its premiere at the J’s Cultural Arts Theatre (JCAT) in Miami in October 2025 and was directed by JC Gutierrez, artistic associate at Miami New Drama at the Colony Theatre. Shepard is also the author of the musical Dewey, the story of a decent man thrust into power during a time of historic turbulence (1979-80) in Miami. Dewey is in development for production. 

 

Shepard and his wife, Anna Alejo, were both born and raised in Miami and live in Denver, Colorado. They are the proud parents of three daughters.