Geena Davis to inaugurate Club de Madrid Annual Conference on women empowerment

The inaugural lunch of the Club de Madrid Annual Conference “Harnessing 21st Century Solutions: A Focus on Women” will be highlighted with the presence of the Academy Award Winner Actor Geena Davis, also Founder of the Geena Davis Institute for Gender and Media.The theme to this session is “Women in Art and Media” and will be held on the 17th of December at the Jo Luck Global Impact Room of the Heifer Foundation in Little Rock, Arkansas. This session will have two objectives:

  •  Identify best practices to increase and promote women’s empowerment through art and media.
  •  Identify policy recommendations to scale up best practices in this area.

In this context, Ms Davis will discuss the work of the Institute along with the key findings from the organization’s latest research which examines the career occupations and aspirations of female characters appearing in Film and Television. As children are spending upwards of seven hours a day with media, many of the images they see often reinforce negative gender stereotypes and behaviours. Girls shown engaging in non-stereotypical activities can broaden and expand girl’s lives, fostering confidence, enthusiasm and achievement. Both young girls and boys should see female decision-makers, political leaders, managers, and scientists as the norm, not the exception. By increasing the number and diversity of female leaders and role models on screen, content creators may affect the ambitions and career aspirations of girls and young women domestically and internationally.

During this lunch Mark Muller, Founding Director of Beyond Borders, will introduce the Club de Madrid Vicepresident and Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jennifer Mary Shipley, that will welcome all participants on behalf of the Club de Madrid. Maya Harris, Vice President of the Democracy, Rights and Justice Program of the Ford Foundation and Manal Al Dowayan, an Arabia Saudi Artist will also participate. Also, an exhibition of her art called “I AM” will be on display at the Clinton Center, Garden View Room.

For more information, please clik here

Any press interested in covering this session and/or the open sessions of the Club de Madrid Annual Conference (December 17th -18th Clinton Presidential Center, Little Rock, Arkansas) please send a mail to comunicacion@clubmadrid.org stating: journalist/writer name and media name.