Ashley Judd

Board of Directors, Population Services International

Celebrated actress and humanitarian Ashley Judd joined PSI as a board member in 2004. She has served as Global Ambassador for PSI’s HIV education and prevention program, YouthAIDS, since 2002.

Judd has visited the slums, brothels, schools and clinics that PSI programs target in Thailand, Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Nicaragua, Rwanda and South Africa. Her visits bring light to the devastating effects of poverty, social injustice and gender inequality. During her travels Judd has met with diplomats, heads of state, religious and political leaders to promote humanitarian causes on a political level.

As YouthAIDS Global Ambassador, Judd was the subject of three award-winning documentaries aired in more than 150 countries worldwide on VH1, The Discovery Channel and The National Geographic Channel. Judd has also graced the covers of countless magazines and been the subject of newspaper and television interviews bringing awareness to issues closest to her heart, such as gender inequality and poverty alleviation. Judd has visited legislators on Capitol Hill, addressed members of the United Nations on human trafficking, spoke at the National Press Club, and testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the protection of vulnerable women from violence, sexual abuse and HIV. Most recently, Ms. Judd spoke about safe water and the empowerment of girls in the developing world at the Condé Nast World Savers Congress and the Clinton Global Initiative.

Through her work with PSI, Judd has discovered the need for a truly holistic, balanced approach to conquer human rights, global health, and social justice atrocities, and has worked to bring PSI and complementary partners together to approach complex public health issues.

Judd resides in Tennessee and Scotland with her husband, international racing star Dario Franchitti.

Associated Sessions

Tackling the Root Causes that Make Girls and Women Vulnerable to HIV