Geena Davis

Academy Award-Winning Actress and Founder & Chair of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media

Geena  Davis
 
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Her message about how women are portrayed in the media and under-represented fit powerfully with the YWCA’s mission of empowering women and families in our community. She was also a pleasure to work with—very down to earth, grounded and generous.

CEO,
YWCA

Academy Award winner Geena Davis isone of Hollywood’s most respected actors, appearing in several roles that became cultural landmarks. Earning the 2006 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama, Davis broke ground in her portrayal of the first female President of the United States in ABC’s hit show Commander in Chief.

In 1989, Davis received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the offbeat dog trainer ‘Muriel Pritchett’ in Lawrence Kasdan’s The Accidental Tourist. She was again nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe for her performance as ‘Thelma’ in Ridley Scott’s Thelma and Louise, in which she co-starred with Susan Sarandon.

Davis went on to receive a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress for her portrayal of baseball phenomenon ‘Dottie Hinson’ in A League of Their Own.

Few have achieved such remarkable success in as many different fields as Davis has: she is not only an Oscar and Golden Globe winning actor, but a world-class athlete (at one time the nation’s 13th-ranked archer), a member of the genius society Mensa, and is becoming recognized for her tireless advocacy of women and girls nearly as much as for her acting accomplishments. She is the founder of the non-profit the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and its programming arm See Jane, which engages film and television creators to dramatically increase the percentages of female characters and reduce gender stereotyping.

Davis holds honorary degrees from Boston University, Bates College and New England College. She currently resides in Los Angeles.

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