Actress Geena Davis to Keynote Fairfield County Community Foundation Fund for Women and Girls Annual Luncheon

Academy Award-winning actress and activist Geena Davis will be the keynote speaker at Fairfield County’s Community Foundation’s Fund for Women and Girls annual luncheon on April 9 at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich.

In addition to Davis, two young women — Corinne Wilklow, 15, a young scientist from Fairfield who wants to become an astronaut, and Eloisa Melendez, 22, a Norwalk councilwoman who is the nation’s youngest Hispanic elected to public office, also will speak.

Davis is the founder of the nonprofit Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. The Institute is the only research-based organization working within the media and entertainment industry to engage, educate and influence the need to dramatically improve gender balance, reduce stereotyping and create diverse female characters in entertainment targeting children 11 and under.

Davis is also a chair to the California Commission on the Status of Women, and is a partner with UN Women in the effort to change the way media represents women and girls worldwide, and is the Special Envoy for Women and Girls in the field of technology for the United Nations.

In her acting career, Davis has appeared 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, she received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the offbeat dog trainer Muriel Pritchett in ‘The Accidental Tourist.’ She was nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe for her performance as Thelma in ‘Thelma and Louise,’ in which she co-starred with Susan Sarandon; a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress for her portrayal of baseball phenomenon Dottie Hinson in ‘A League of Their Own.’

Tickets begin at $275, tables begin at $2,750 and can be purchased online at www.FCCFoundation.org, by email at FWGevents@FCCFoundation.org or by phone at 203.750.3223.

Since its founding in 1998 by Fairfield County’s Community Foundation and a small group of women, the Fund for Women and Girls has awarded more than $4 million in grants to benefit more than 4,000 Fairfield County girls and women ages five to 90. The Community Foundation has awarded $180 million in grants to nonprofits in Fairfield County and beyond. For more information, visit www.FCCFoundation.org.

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