MEDAL RECIPIENT 

Ava DuVernay is an Academy Award nominee and winner of Emmy, BAFTA, Sundance, Image, and Peabody Awards. Her films include Selma, the first film directed by an African-American woman to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar; 13th, which made her the first African-American woman to be nominated for an Oscar in a feature directing category; Middle of Nowhere, which earned her Sundance’s Best Director Prize; and Disney’s A Wrinkle in  Time, which made her the highest grossing Black woman director in American box office history. DuVernay’s four-part series When They See Us was honored with 16 Emmy nominations. Her critically acclaimed series Queen Sugar took its place in history as the longest-running Black family drama series with 88 episodes across seven seasons.

A champion of independent voices, DuVernay founded the narrative change collective ARRAY in 2011, recipient of the Peabody Institutional Award. She was given an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Yale University, and her portrait has been commissioned by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in recognition of her impact on American culture. In 2023, she made history again as the first African-American woman director to compete at the Venice Biennale in its 100 year history with her feature film Origin.

DuVernay serves on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, representing the directors branch, and holds leadership roles with the Directors Guild of America and the American Film Institute advisory boards. Her cultural influence is showcased with the making of a sold-out Ava DuVernay Barbie doll, a Funko Pop figurine, and even a custom Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor. She lives and works in her hometown of Los Angeles, California.