1. Board of Directors
Qualified Personnalities
Jamel Debbouze
Jamel Debbouze is a French humorist, actor and producer of Moroccan origin. Following his first appearances on
stage, he presents -starting 1995- a radio show, Le Cinéma de Jamel. Three years later the TV version is
broadcasted. He performs in one man shows and has played since 1998 in more than fifteen movies including Le
fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (Jean-Pierre Jeunet), Astérix & Obélix : Mission Cléopâtre (Alain Chabat),
Angel-A (Luc Besson) and She hate me (Spike Lee). In 2007 he receives the Cannes Film Festival’s best actor
award for Indigènes directed by Rachid Bouchareb. In April 2008, Jamel Debbouze inaugurates its theater, the
Comedy Club, whose aim is to enable young talents to make names as comics.
Waris Dirie
Waris Dirie was born in the Somali desert into a nomad family. She underwent genital mutilation at the age of five
and was thirteen when she fled from a forced marriage. After an adventurous escape, she managed to reach
London. The British photographer Terence Donovan discovered her and she became one of the first
‘supermodels’. In 1988, Waris Dirie decided to open to the media about the tradition of Female Genital Mutilation
(FGM) and her own fate. She was appointed UN Special Ambassador for the Elimination of FGM in 1997 and
created her own Foundation in 2002, based in Austria. Waris Dirie published four best-sellers between 1997 and
2007. The recipient of numerous prizes and awards, she has become a symbol of hope and justice to millions of
women.
Salma Hayek
Actress, director and producer Salma Hayek was born and grew up in Mexico, but has worked in the United States
since the 1990s. Her interpretation of the role of Frida Kahlo in the work by Julie Taymor, dealing with the story
of the famous Mexican artist, lead to an Oscar Nomination for the Best Actress in 2003. Since 2002 she has been
working with the V-day Association. After acting in Monologues du Vagin by Eve Ensler, she joined the Board of
Directors. Salma Hayek has since 2004 been the spokesperson for the Avon brand of cosmetics. She is particularly
involved in the Avon Foundation's Speak Out Against Domestic Violence programme.
Taslima Nasreen
Taslima Nasreen was born and lived in Bangladesh until 1994. Trained as a gynaecologist she worked from 1986
in a public sector hospital. After the publication of her pamphlet Lajja (Shame), denouncing the oppression of the
Hindu community in Bangladesh, she was handed out a fatwa death sentence and had to leave her country. Now a
Swedish citizen, she has since been constantly on the move and her work -ten books to date- denounces the
conditions of minorities, and in particular Muslim women. Rama Yade, French Secretary of State for Human
Rights, presented her the Simone de Beauvoir Prize for the Liberty of Women in May 2008.
Nazanine Ravaï
After a diploma from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and a Masters in Economics at Université Paris II
Assas, Nazanine Ravaï joined the Figaro staff as a journalist in 1987 before being appointed to major reporting
duties in 1997. In 2000, she went to Financière Pinault as a special adviser to the President. Nazanine Ravaï has
written two books: Bernard Arnault or the taste for Luxury with Nadège Forestier published by Plon in 1991, and
The Republic of Vanities published by Grasset in 1997.