Contributor

Kristin Davis

Actor, Activist

An active philanthropist, actress Kristin Davis has had the honor of dedicating her time and efforts to serving as a Patron to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and a Global Ambassador to Oxfam International, as well as working with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. Davis joined the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in 2009, after she traveled to Kenya to go on safari, but instead found herself trekking into the wilderness to assist with the unexpected rescue of an orphaned baby elephant. The rescue introduced her to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, who transported the baby elephant to their nursery in Nairobi, and thus began Davis’ relationship with and devotion to the Trust. Davis is committed to the Trust’s mission: to give these orphans a chance to heal, thrive and eventually be introduced back into the wild and to protect their habitat and ecosystem for everyone. She is also dedicated to inspiring change and creating awareness to stop illegal poaching for ivory before elephants become extinct in the wild, something that will happen in a mere 10 years unless change starts now. Pairing her passions for philanthropy and film, and with the goal of sharing what she has been lucky enough to witness first-hand, Davis executive produced the 2015 documentary “Gardeners of Eden” which shows the operations of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust from the frontlines of the poaching crisis. The documentary captures the Trust’s efforts to stop poachers in the bush, rescue the orphans of slain elephants and raise them by hand until they are able to return them to their home in the wild. Davis screened the film for the US State Department and on Capitol Hill to give lawmakers a greater understanding of the need to ban ivory within the United States to prevent elephant extinction. Additionally, it was featured at the Mill Valley Film Festival, Santa Barbara Film Festival, Sedona Film Festival -where it received the Director's Choice Humanitarian Award, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, Catalina Film Festival- where Davis was honored with the Conservation Activist Award and at the Environmental Film Festival. In March 2016, the film won the “Elephant Hero” Award at The International Elephant Film Festival, honoring noteworthy achievements in elephant protection & conservation. The festival is presented by Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival & United Nations/CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna). The film was also nominated for an EMA Award for Documentary Film and was a finalist for the prestigious Peabody Award. “Gardeners of Eden” is currently available on Netflix and iTunes. Davis has been a supporter of Oxfam since 2004, and took on the honor of Global Ambassador in 2006. She has spoken at the United Nations in an effort to eradicate poverty and fight for social justice. In her travels with Oxfam, she has visited local communities in South Africa, Mozambique, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, and Haiti to gain a better understanding of gender issues and poverty, as well as how environmental issues affect the people and their surroundings. Davis has been a supporter of UNHCR since 2014. In June 2015, Davis visited Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo with UNHCR, meeting families displaced by conflict and violence. While there she filmed a TV fundraising appeal that was aired in Asia, Australia and the US. She also had the privilege of meeting the humanitarian Sister Angélique in the Democratic Republic of Congo, who has aided over 2,000 survivors of kidnapping and sexual violence. In January 2016, Kristin visited Australia to support UNHCR fundraising activities focusing on programmes to support women victims of sexual violence in Congo. Kristin has highlighted the work of UNHCR in extensive media interviews an writing of features and opinion pieces and has helped shine a spotlight on the global refugee crisis via her social media channels. Kristin has supported key UNHCR events and campaigns including World Refugee Day, the Nansen Refugee Award ad a film highlighting the important difference between refugees and migrants and the different protection they are entitled to under international law. Davis is best known in her professional career for her award-winning role as Charlotte in “Sex and the City,”

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