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Actor and Activist Ashley Judd, who has served as global ambassador of PSI's YouthAIDS project since January 2003, made PSI history in 2005 by becoming the first PSI representative to testify before Congress.
Ms. Judd advocates that educating young people and empowering them to make the right choices is key to stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS. In her capacity as YouthAIDS global ambassador, she has raised awareness and funding for YouthAIDS and made public service announcements. In June 2005, she testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the invitiation of Sen. Richard Lugar, chair of the committee. She called for more programs that address the needs of vulnerable girls and women in developing countries and protect them from violence, sexual abuse and HIV infection.
In 2004, Ms. Judd visited PSI programs in Cambodia and Thailand. She visited clinics and schools where she spoke with youth about HIV/AIDS, and spoke at several events associated with the International AIDS Conference in Bangkok. In early 2005, she visited PSI programs in Kenya, Madagascar and South Africa. She talked to youth, commercial sex workers and the PSI outreach workers who educate them and religious leaders, including a private meeting with her mentor, Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Judd is a well-established actor who has appeared in such films as Double Jeopardy, Kiss the Girls, Frida, Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood, Where the Heart Is, A Time to Kill, Heat, Ruby in Paradise and most recently Twisted and De-Lovely. She has worked with such actors as Morgan Freeman, Robert DeNiro, Selma Hayek, Harvey Kietel, Sandra Bullock, Andy Garcia and Kevin Kline.
Emmy® Award and Golden Globe nominee, Judd is an eighth generation Eastern Kentuckian and a graduate of the University of Kentucky. Judd currently resides in Tennessee with her husband. | 