Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie is an inspiring model in philanthropy. The Los Angeles, California-born celebrity is ranked as the 3rd highest actress in the Forbes Celebrity 100. The exclusive list of the entertainment industry’s most powerful, rich, and famous also notes her number 1 position in the web. Only one thing about her can possibly eclipse her stellar career as a critically acclaimed actress: the fact that she is an influential philanthropist and an internationally respected humanitarian.

With her equally high-profile ex-partner Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie donated more than $8.5 million to their Jolie-Pitt Foundation in 2006 alone. Among the recipient charitable organizations are Global AIDS Alliance, Doctors Without Borders, the Daniel Pearl Foundation, Namibia Red Cross Action Program, the Epidermolysis Bullosa Medical Research Foundation and Global Green USA. It also supports victims of the Iraq war, particularly the children affected. Other programs work toward providing relief for Darfur refugees. In 2008 the Jolie-Pitt Foundation was given all the proceeds of the $14 million-worth exclusive photos of the couple’s newborn twins. People magazine and British Hello! Magazine paid for these snapshots of Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Léon, born July 12 that year.

Also in 2008, the couple worked with Global Health Committee. The non-profit group received the gift of $2 million for the construction of a center for AIDS and tuberculosis-afflicted children in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In honor of their generous donation, the clinic will be named after Zahara, who Jolie adopted from Ethiopia.

Angelina Jolie became a committed humanitarian advocate in 2000 when her filming of Tomb Raider took her to Cambodia and opened her eyes to its harsh realities. With the realization that the situation in the country was a mere echo of so many other afflicted communities, she decided to be the change herself.

Since her appointment in 2001, Angelina Jolie has been a devoted United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ Goodwill Ambassador. By 2003, Angelina Jolie became the first recipient of the United Nations Correspondents Association’s Citizen of the World Award. Two years after, UNA-USA also recognized her humanitarian work with the Global Humanitarian Award. In the same year, she established the National Centre for Refugee and Immigrant Children. The year 2005 also saw Angelina Jolie awarded with Cambodian citizenship for her dedication to the Asian country’s betterment. In 2007, the Freedom Award was duly given to her by the International Rescue Committee.

Angelina Jolie has also taken her advocacy to the political level by becoming a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in 2007. Everyday life for her entails a balance between her acting career, philanthropic efforts, and her role as mother to her three adopted children (Maddox, Pax, Zahara) and three fathered by Brad Pitt (Shiloh, Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline).