Jodie Evans (born September 22, 1954) is an American political

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fr ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, and documentary

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

. Evans served in the cabinet of California Governor

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...

and managed his 1992 campaign for the presidency. Evans co-founded the women's anti-war activist organization Code Pink with Medea Benjamin and others. She is the board chair of the Rainforest Action Network.

Early life

Evans was born and raised in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

. She first became interested in social justice activism when she worked as a maid in a major Las Vegas hotel as a teenager—as her coworkers organized, she marched in favor of a living wage.

Activism

Her CODEPINK protest actions include disrupting

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 ...

's speech at the

2008 Republican National Convention The 2008 Republican National Convention took place at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from September 1, through September 4, 2008. The first day of the Republican Party's convention fell on Labor Day, the last day of the popu ...

, and a 2009 protest in Santa Monica against Israeli cosmetics company Ahava. Upon returning from Afghanistan, she delivered signatures from women in that country and the US to President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

asking him to send no new troops into the conflict there. In March, 2010, during a book signing by

Karl Rove Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950) is an American Republican political consultant, policy advisor, and lobbyist. He was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff during the George W. Bush administration until his resignation on Augu ...

, she and other Code Pink members caused disruptions. At one point, Evans charged the stage towards Rove with a pair of handcuffs, declaring that she was making a citizen's arrest. On January 30, 2011, Evans was arrested for disruptive behavior at a Rancho Mirage hotel where she was leading a protest against David H. Koch and Charles G. Koch over their financial support of part of the

Tea Party Movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defic ...

. She is the co-founder and president of the People’s Support Foundation, a non-profit which was established in 2017 with support of former staff of software company ThoughtWorks. In 2019, Evans joined actress and activist

Jane Fonda Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress, activist, and former fashion model. Recognized as a film icon, Fonda is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Jane Fonda, various accolades including two ...

in a series of weekly rallies and acts of civil disobedience, called Fire Drill Fridays, at Washington DC's Capitol to highlight the global climate crisis, where Evans was arrested on multiple occasions along with Fonda. She was an editor of the books ''Twilight of Empire: Responses to Occupation'' (2004) (Co-Editor) and ''Stop the Next War Now: Effective Responses to Violence and Terrorism'' (2005) (Co-Editor).

Personal life

She was married to Max Palevsky until his death on May 5, 2010. Shecurrently lives in

Venice, California Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside (Los Angeles County), Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city unti ...

. Evans' partner is tech entrepreneur Neville Roy Singham.

Controversies

In the summer of 2010, controversy arose over Evans' alleged 2008 remark to Debbie Lee, the mother of an American soldier killed in Iraq that "Your son deserved to die in Iraq if he was stupid enough to go over there." Republican candidate

Meg Whitman Margaret Cushing Whitman (born August 4, 1956) is the US ambassador to Kenya, an American business executive and former gubernatorial candidate for California. She is a board member of Procter & Gamble and General Motors. Whitman was previously ...

repeated this charge in her 2010 California gubernatorial campaign, demanding that Jerry Brown return money from a fundraiser that Evans hosted. Later during the controversy, Lee told the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pap ...

'' that she could not identify Evans and was not sure who made the insulting remark.

Films

* ''Stripped and Teased: Tales from Las Vegas Women'' (1999) (Producer) * '' The Ground Truth: After the Killing Ends'' (2006) (Executive Producer) * ''South Central Farm: Oasis in a Concrete Desert'' (2008) (Executive Producer) * '' The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers'' (2009) (Executive Producer) * '' The People Speak'' (2009) (Producer) * ''Rooted in Peace'' (2012) (Self) * '' The Square'' (2013) (Executive Producer) * '' Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia'' (2013) (Self) * ''We Are Many'' (2014) * ''

The Yes Men Are Revolting ''The Yes Men Are Revolting'' is a 2014 documentary film directed by Laura Nix and The Yes Men, a culture jamming duo who use the aliases Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno. Adam McKay executive produced. The film follows their exploits as they pra ...

'' (2014) * ''

The Brainwashing of My Dad ''The Brainwashing of My Dad'' is a 2015 American documentary film directed by Jen Senko about her father's transformation from a nonpolitical Democrat into a political Republican. The film was mostly funded by a Kickstarter campaign. Synopsi ...

'' (2015) (Executive Producer) * '' This Changes Everything'' (2015) (Executive Producer) * '' Shadow World'' (2016) (Co-Executive Producer) * ''Always in Season'' (2019) (Co-Executive Producer)

Organizations and boards

Evans is a member of a number of organizations and boards including: * CODEPINK: Women for Peace (Co-founder) *

California Arts Council The California Arts Council is a state agency based in Sacramento, United States. Its eight council members are appointed by the Governor and the state Legislature. The agency's mission is to advance California through arts, culture and creativi ...

* The People's Forum *

Drug Policy Alliance The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) is a New York City–based nonprofit organization that seeks to advance policies that “reduce the harms of both drug use and drug prohibition, and to promote the sovereignty of individuals over their minds and b ...

* Rainforest Action Network *

Institute for Policy Studies The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) is an American progressive think tank started in 1963 that is based in Washington, D.C. It was directed by John Cavanagh from 1998 to 2021. In 2021 Tope Folarin was announced as new Executive Director. I ...

World Festival of Sacred Music The Fes World Festival of Sacred Music (Festival des Musiques Sacrées du Monde) is an annual music festival that is held for a week in Fes, Morocco. It was first held in 1994 and usually held over 10 days in early June. FEZ The World Festival o ...

* 826LA * Office of the Americas *

Sisterhood is Global Institute The Sisterhood Is Global Institute (SIGI) is an international non-governmental organization. For almost three decades, SIGI has been a consultant to the United Nations. SIGI was founded in 1984 by Robin Morgan and Simone de Beauvoir. A spinoff of ...

* Women's Media Center *

Global Girl Media Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

* Schumacher Center for a New Economics

Awards

* Levantine Cultural Center 2010 East-West Vision of Peace Award * Progressive Democrats of the Santa Monica Mountains 2008 Tedi Winograd Courage Award - Outside the Party * Death Penalty Focus 2007 Rose Elizabeth Bird Commitment to Justice Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Jodie 1954 births American anti-war activists American documentary filmmakers American women's rights activists Living people People from the Las Vegas Valley American women documentary filmmakers