Mona Scott-Young (néeScott; born February 15, 1967) is an American television producer and entrepreneur. She is the CEO of the multi-media entertainment company Monami Productions, best known for producing the VH1 reality television franchise Love & Hip Hop.[1][2]
Life and career
Scott was born and raised in New York City to Haitian parents. In 2005, she married Shawn Young. They have two children.[1]
Scott-Young transitioned into television in 2005, producing The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliott on UPN and creating her own television production company, Monami Productions.[1] In 2006, Jim Ackerman, a director at VH1 at the time, approached her to help develop a reality television series which centered on rapper Jim Jones.[1] Inspired by female ensemble-driven shows that were popular at the time, Scott-Young shifted the concept to focus on Jim's girlfriend Chrissy Lampkin and her circle of friends.[1] The series, now known as Love & Hip Hop, went on to become a huge success.[3][4]
Scott-Young sees the Love & Hip Hop brand as an opportunity maker. "To have a franchise that represents our culture, our people and to have that kind of staying power and the ability to invent and reinvent as we expand into different cities to me that's probably what I'm proudest of. [It's] the ability to provide the jobs both in front of and behind the scenes... to women and people of color as well.".[5]
In addition to television, Scott-Young is part owner and chief marketing officer of the moscato brand MYX Fusions with rapper Nicki Minaj,[7] and serves on the board of The Haitian Roundtable, The RSQ Foundation and The GrassROOTS Foundation.[citation needed]
Awards and accolades
Scott-Young has been honored at ASCAP's "Woman Behind the Music" event in 2011.[8] She has been honored with awards from the National Association of Black Female Executives in Music Entertainment, named "Marketer of the Year" by Ad Age, and recognized by the National Congress and Convention of Haitian-Americans. Scott-Young was awarded at the MTVMovie & TV Awards for "Reality TV Royalty".[9]
She received the Women's Entrepreneurship Day Organization’s Entertainment Pioneer Award at the United Nations in 2022, celebrating her as a trailblazer and innovator in her field. The prestigious award, also recognized by the US Congress, highlights women entrepreneurs and the meaningful impact they are having on the world.[10]
