If there's one way to describe Meryl Streep, it's girl power. She may be one of Hollywood's biggest names, but the Sophie's Choice star is just as much a humanitarian as she is an actor.
The three-time Academy Award winner has a specific interest in helping girls and women with her main campaigns focusing on gender equality and female empowerment.
Meryl is a strong supporter of the National Women's History Museum and has made significant donations to the institution, notably giving away the $1m she made for her role in The Iron Lady. In 2015, she also founded the Writers Lab, a screenwriters lab for female screenwriters over forty years old.
"Meryl has been a tireless champion for women's equality, and has been at the forefront of amplifying women's voices and women's stories" - Susan Whiting, chair of Board of Directors at National Women's History Museum
Susan Whiting, chair of Board of Directors at National Women's History Museum, told HELLO!: "Meryl has been a tireless champion for women's equality, and has been at the forefront of amplifying women's voices and women's stories – not only through her incredible performances in the roles she selects but as a fierce advocate of women's representation off-screen as well. We are so grateful for all she has done to ensure that women are represented and heard."
Meryl also lent her distinctive voice to the Girl Up movement – one of the world's biggest organisations focused on female empowerment – by co-narrating the film Girl Rising, which explores the experiences of girls in Nepal, Ethiopia, India and Cambodia among other countries.
Alongside her husband Donald Gummer, Meryl founded the Silver Mountain Foundation for the Arts which has been going since the eighties. Much of its funding goes towards the arts, education, health care, and human services sectors.
Oxfam America, New York's Meals on Wheels, the Coalition for the Homeless, Women for Women International, and the Women's Refugee Commissions are just some of the organisations that have benefited from Meryl and Donald's foundation.
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