ACADEMY AWARD & GOLDEN GLOBE WINNER; PUBLIC HEALTH HUMANITARIAN
Actress, writer and activist Patricia Arquette has spent her career portraying memorable characters in film and on television. Winner of both the Academy Award and the Emmy for her roles in Medium and Boyhood, Patricia has chosen to use her considerable visibility to shine a light on issues and speak for people whose voices are rarely heard.
Her work, post-Katrina and then in Haiti after the devastating hurricanes in 2012, led to the creation of GiveLove, a skills training organization that is deeply engaged with community-led sanitation projects to treat and compost waste, improve public health, and create jobs around recycling.
When Patricia raised the issue of equality and fair wages for women at the 2015 Academy Awards, the world took notice. She has since galvanized a growing movement determined to achieve equality for women in the United States, which has culminated in launching a petition to compel Congress to finally ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which gives women a clear constitutional basis for challenging discrimination.
Patricia was also an executive producer on a documentary addressing the pay gap, Equal Means Equal, which explores topics such as pregnancy discrimination, female poverty, reproductive health care and sexual assault. She will be making her directorial debut on Love Canal, a drama based on a group of working class housewives from Love Canal, New York who took on the government and the chemical industry in the 70s.
Patricia’s dedication to advocating for basic human rights has taken a front seat to her time, efforts, and most importantly, her voice.