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According to The Hollywood Reporter, Oprah Winfrey, Meryl Streep and Chadwick Boseman are among the notable names who have signed a letter in support of gender equality. More than 150 stars have banded together with international charity ONE in the hopes of creating change. Back in March, on International Women’s Day, the organization published its fourth annual #PovertyIsSexist letter to world leaders, “demanding that they deliver powerful changes for women and girls living in extreme poverty.” And now, Winfrey, Streep, Boseman, along with a myriad of other influential figures, are lending their support by signing onto the letter. Other famous signatories from the entertainment industry include Reese Witherspoon, Amy Schumer, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Natalie Portman, Mariska Hargitay, Mindy Kaling, Neil Patrick Harris and Yara Shahidi. “We won’t stand by while the poorest women are overlooked,” part of the letter states, expressing a dire need for “historic changes for women” in the #MeToo and Time’s Up era. The campaign has also received support from those outside of show business, including former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, Chelsea Clinton and Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington. Read the entire letter below, as well as a full list of signatories:
Dear World leaders,
We’re putting you on notice.
For 130 million girls without an education. For one billion women without access to a bank account. For 39,000 girls who became child brides today. For women everywhere paid less than a man for the same work.
There is nowhere on earth where women have the same opportunities as men, but the gender gap is wider for women living in poverty.
Poverty is sexist. And we won’t stand by while the poorest women are overlooked.
You have the power to deliver historic changes for women this year. From the G7 to the G20; from the African Union to your annual budgets; we will push you for commitments and hold you to account for them. And, if you deliver, we will be the first to champion your progress.
We won’t stop until there is justice for women and girls everywhere.
Because none of us are equal until all of us are equal.”
Signed,
Adwoa Aboah, Model, Activist and founder of GURLS TALK
Alice Albright, Chief Executive Officer of the Global Partnership for Education Secretariat
Ali Hewson, Founder, Edun and Nude
Ali Nuhu, Actor
Amy Brenneman, Actress, producer
Amy Hepburn, Executive Director, Women1One
Amy Poehler
Amy Schumer
Amy E. Weaver, President, Legal & General Counsel, Salesforce
André Pienaar, Managing Partner, Founder, and Chairman, C5 Capital
Angelique Kidjo, Grammy Award-Winning Artist and Activist
Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, CEO, Plan International
Anne-Marie Slaughter, President and CEO, New America
Anne Wizorek, Author and feminist activist
Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post co-founder and founder and CEO of Thrive Global
Asa, Singer, songwriter, and recording artist
Bisola Aiyeola – Actor, singer, MC
Blake Lively, actor
Bobby Shriver, Co-Founder, ONE and (RED)
Bono, lead singer of U2 and co-founder of ONE and (RED)
Caitriona Balfe, Actress
Cali, Singer and songwriter
Calum Worthy, Actor
Carole Wamuyu Wainaina, COO, Africa50
Carolin Kebekus, Comedian, actress, musician
Carol Hamilton, Group President, L’Oreal Luxe USA
Cassandra Bankson, YouTube Influencer
Chadwick Boseman, Actor, director, writer
Chelsea Clinton, Advocate, Author, Teacher, Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation & Clinton Health Access Initiative & Alliance for a Healthier Generation
Chris Anderson, TED Curator
Cindy Beedie, Director, Cause We Care Foundation
Cindy McCain, Businesswoman, philanthropist, and humanitarian
Connie Britton, Actor and activist
Culcha Candela, Hip Hop, Reggae, & Dancehall Band
Cynthia Drakeman, Founding CEO of DoubleXEconomy, LLC
Daisy Ridley, Actress
Danai Gurira, Actor and award-winning playwright
David Burtka, Actor, chef
David Oyelowo, Actor
Dayle Haddon, Spokesperson, Activist, Author & Model
Deb Dugan, CEO, RED
Déborah François, Actress
Devry Boughner Vorwerk, Corporate Vice President, Global Corporate Affairs, Cargill
Diane Whitty, Global Head Philanthropy Centre Private Bank, J.P. Morgan Private Bank
Dunja Hayali, Journalist and news-anchor
Elizabeth Banks, Actor, director, producer, co-founder of WhoHaha on YouTube
Ellen Chilemba, Founder & Executive Director, Tiwale
Elsie S. Kanza, Head of Regional Strategies – Africa, Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum Geneva
Emilia Clarke, Actress
Emmylou Harris, Singer/Songwriter
Farah Ramzan Golant, CBE, CEO, Girl Effect
Felicity Huffman, Actor, Founder of WhatTheFlicka
Gavin Hayman, CEO, Open Contracting Partnership
Gayle Smith, President & CEO, ONE
Gina Rodriguez, Actress
Graça Machel, International advocate for women’s and children’s rights; former freedom fighter and first Education Minister of Mozambique
Hans Sarpei, Footballer
Hugh Evans, CEO, Global Citizen
Isha Sesay – CNN News anchor
Issa Rae
Jacqueline Novogratz, Founder and CEO, Acumen
Jake Harriman CEO, Nuru International
Jamie Drummond, Co-founder of ONE
Jan Delay, Musician
Janiece Evans-Page, VP, Fossil Global Philanthropy and Sustainability
Jennifer Fraser, Director of Data Center Engineering, Twitter
Joana Breidenbach, Entrepreneur and co-founder of betterplace.org
Joe Cerrell, Managing Director, Global Policy & Advocacy, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
John Doerr, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
John Green, Author and YouTuber
John Prendergast, Founding Director, The Enough Project
Josh Bolten, President & CEO, Business Roundtable
Julia Gillard, Chair of the Board of Directors at the Global Partnership for Education, and former PM of Australia
Julie Gichuru, Founder and CEO of Arimus Media Limited and MIMI HOLDINGS LTD
Juliette Binoche, Actress
June Sarpong, TV producer and host
Kate Walsh, Actor
Kelly Ayotte, Former U.S. Senator for New Hampshire and New Hampshire Attorney General
Kelsey MacDermaid and Becky Wright (TheSorryGirls), YouTube Personalities
Kumail Nanjiani, Actor, writer, and comedian
Lauran Bromley, Bromley Family Foundation
Lena Dunham, Actress, writer, director, and producer
Letitia Wright, Actress
Mabel van Oranje, Initiator and Chair, Girls Not Brides
Madeleine Albright, Former U.S. Secretary of State, author, Chair of Albright Stonebridge Group, and Michael and Virginia Mortara Endowed Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown
Malika Saada Saar, Senior Counsel on Civil and Human Rights, Google
Maria Eitel, Founder & Co-Chair, Nike Foundation
Mariska Hargitay
Mark Suzman, Chief Strategy Officer & President, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Marne Levine, COO, Instagram
Mellody Hobson, President, Ariel Investments
Meryl Streep, Actress
Michael Sheen, Actor
Michele Sullivan, President, Caterpillar Foundation
Michelle Grogg, Vice President, Corporate Responsibility and Sustainable Development, Cargill
Michelle Monaghan, Actress
Mindy Kaling
Minh-Khai Phan-Thi, Actress and TV host
Mo Ibrahim, Founder and Chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Founder of Celtel, and Founding Chairman of Satya Capital Limited
Mort Halperin, Senior Advisor, Open Society Foundations
Natalie Dormer, Actress
Natalie Portman, Actor
Neil Patrick Harris, Actor
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Former Minister of Finance, Nigeria, and former Managing Director of the World Bank
Oby Ezekwesili, Convener, Bring Back Our Girls
Olafur Eliasson, Artist
Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Actress
Oprah, Chairman & CEO, Oprah Media Group
Pam Scott
Pascal Saint-Amans, Director of the Center for Tax Policy and Administration, OECD
Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever
Phoebe Robinson, Stand-Up Comic
Poppy Delevingne, Actress, model
Rachelle Hruska, Founder, Lingua Franca
Rashida Jones, Actor
Reese Witherspoon, Actress, filmmaker, business owner
Regina Scully, Founder and CEO, Artemis Rising Foundation
Robin Wright, Actor
Ryan Beedie, President, Beedie Development Group
Ryan Reynolds, Actor
Sarah Brown, Executive Chair of the Global Business Coalition for Education and co-founder of A World at School
Sara Nuru, Host and model
Sarah Degnan Kambou, President, International Center for Research on Women
Sarah Wiener, Chef and activist
Selmor Mtukudzi, Musician
Senta Berger, Actress
Shane Bigelow, SVP & Managing Director, Bernstein
Sheryl Sandberg, COO, Facebook
Sibylle Berg, Author
Steve Evans, Executive Vice President, Owned Brands, Fossil Group
Susan A. Buffett, Chairwoman, The Sherwood Foundation and the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation
Tanya Burr, Fashion and beauty vlogger
Thandie Newton, Actress
Theresia Gouw, Co-founder Aspect Ventures
Tina Fey, Writer, actress and producer
Tom Brady, New England Patriots quarterback
Tom Freston, Chairman of the Board, ONE, and Principal, Firefly3
Toni Garnn, Model, actress
Tony Prophet, Chief Equality Officer, Salesforce
Toolz Oniru-Demuren, Presenter & Assistant Director of Programmes at Beat 99.9FM, TV Presenter, and Media Personality
Valerie Amos, Former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom
Valerie Jarrett, Former Senior Advisor to the President of the United States & Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls
Uche Pedro, Founder, Bella Naija
Vanessa Mdee, Afro Pop Musician
Waje, Singer
Yara Shahidi, Actress and activist
Yemi Alade – Singer
Zachary Quinto, Actor and producer
Zain Verjee, Co-founder and CEO of aKoma Media, former CNN anchor
Zeinixx, Artist and Activist
Zendaya, Actress and singer
