Geena Davis Celebrates “Great Progress Made” By Institute On Gender In Media When Honored With Emmy’s Governor Award – Deadline

Sarah Paulson and Shonda Rhimes honored The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media with the prestigious Governor’s Award on Monday night at the Emmy Awards. Accepting the statuette were founder Geena Davis and the organization’s president and CEO, Madeline Di Nonno.

The institute’s data-driven research, education, and advocacy have influenced content creators to reimagine the media landscape to reflect the world we live in. They analyze representations of the six major marginalized identities on screen: women; people of color; LGBTQIA+ individuals; people with disabilities; older persons (50+); and large-bodied individuals in global Film, Television, Advertising, and Gaming.

“Tonight is about honoring the best in television, and as you know and as Lizzo knows, television can often directly impact how people see themselves and judge their value in the world. In the time since I launched the institute, we’ve made a great deal of progress but there’s still more work to do,” Davis said during her acceptance speech.

Backstage at the event, Davis added, “I think [this Emmy Award] is very, very significant because what we do is usually behind the scenes. We’re really grateful for that.”

Looking towards October, Di Nonno touted the institute’s next initiative backstage at the event, which will focus on how women and girls in STEM are portrayed in the media.