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

Judd has visited PSI and other programs in slums, brothels, schools, hospices, drop-in centers, and clinics in Thailand, Cambodia, Madagascar, Kenya, South Africa, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, India, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In her work, she witnesses the lives of the exploited and poor to help educated the world about the reality of global poverty and bring solutions to the devastating effects of social injustice and gender inequality. During her travels Judd has met with diplomats, heads of state, political and religious leaders of many faiths to give voice to the poor, and to carry the message of effective grassroots programs to those who have the power to create political change.

In 2009, Judd will attend the World Economic Forum in South Africa, and visit programs in Ethiopia, where she will also direct a documentary about a rape and traumatic fistula victim turned activist who is feathered by Nicholas Kristof in his forthcoming book, Half the Sky.

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. In her role, Judd has graced the covers of countless magazines and been the subject of newspaper and television interviews bringing vital awareness to issues closest to her heart, gender inequality and poverty alleviation. Judd has visited legislators on Capitol Hill, addressed the General Assembly of the UN on the scourge human trafficking, spoke at the National Press Club, testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the protection of vulnerable women from violence, sexual abuse and HIV and, most recently, at the Condé Nast World Savers Congress and served as an expert panelist at Clinton Global Initiative to discuss the issue of safe water and the empowerment of girls in the developing world. She has also given prestigious Blazer Lecture at the University of Kentucky.

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 become involved in complementary efforts with organizations such as Heifer International, Women For Women International, Equality Now, Apne Aap International, as well as countless other NGO and CBO’s that focus on the legal, economic, social, cultural, educational, health, and financial empowerment of the poorest of the poor.

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

Take a look at Ashley’s journeys to YouthAIDS programs

Watch Ashley tell an Untold Story about HIV/AIDS on MTV's MySpace page