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Academy Award-winning actor Geena Davis will keynote PCMA Convening Leaders 2019 Jan. 9 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Academy-award winning actor and gender-equality activist Geena Davis will be the closing keynote speaker at PCMA Convening Leaders 2019, PCMA announced Dec. 24.
Davis joins headliners including marketing guru Seth Godin and tennis legend Billie Jean King at the event, which will unite the leaders of the business events industry Jan. 6-9 in Pittsburgh under the theme “Disrupt + Deliver.” She will speak on Jan. 9 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
Davis is founder and chair of the nonprofit Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which among its initiatives seeks to eliminate unconscious bias and challenge stereotypes in media that targets and influences children ages 11 and under. The institute also encourages development of more female characters aimed at creating strong role models.
Her keynote will focus on how her career in film and television inspired her to create the institute. Davis has said another impetus behind the creation of the institute was the gender bias she noted when watching children’s videos with her then two-year-old daughter.
Davis won an Oscar for best supporting actress for her role in 1988’s “The Accidental Tourist.” She also starred in films including “Thelma and Louise,” “A League of Their Own,” and “Beetlejuice.” Davis also was a semi-finalist in the U.S. Olympic Trials for archery at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
In addition to her film and television career and athletic pursuits, Davis was appointed special envoy to promote efforts including the Tech Needs Girls campaign for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). And her institute has partnered on research with UN Women.