More about Georgia and her causes.
Georgia is an actress, TV host, comedian, producer, activists and philanthropist who has dedicated her life to working with individuals and communities born into an unjust experience of our world and is endlessly inspired by them to spend every day combining her passion for humans, entertainment, education, innovation and philanthropy to create a thriving future for everyone.
Arts Bridging the Gap
Georgia is founder and executive director of the 501(c)3 social justice organization Arts Bridging the Gap (ABG). She has used her experience with trauma informed care and study in neuroscience to form a community driven movement that brings artists, educators and community organizations together to create arts education experiences for children in under resourced areas in order to improve their self-efficacy their environment and ultimately their academic success. Georgia developed all of ABG's programs including their two hallmark programs: The Los Angele Street Art Initiative and Futures Rewired. She also developed its Arts+Wellness Philosophy and is the author of its published Empathy Curriculum - a guide to creating connection and positive relationships amongst disenfranchised communities.
HECA and WCLP
In 2018, Georgia joined the team at Community Impact Uganda to form the sustainable health/agriculture and education NGO Hearts 4 Community Action. In the same year she joined a local Ethiopian team in developing Women’s Community Leadership Program who are equipping women with locally generated and embraced business skills, mental wellness and community through globally inspired education and support. She is currently serving as the chairman for both organizations.
Homelessness
In 2017, Georgia started the project Mission:Garden at The Los Angeles Mission as a way to provide fresh, healthy produce to the Skidrow community as well as generating income and sustainable life skills. Mission:Garden is a partnership with LA Urban Farms, The Farm Project, Skysource, Lincoln Property Company and The Los Angeles Mission. The goal of the garden is 150 vertical gardens, powered through solar power and watered by the air through Skysource technology (winner of the 2018 Xprize), that are tended by the men and women in the Los Angeles Mission Fresh Start program as vocation/life training.
Entertainment
As an entertainer she is best known for voicing Oerba Dia Vanille in Final Fantasy XIII, Ensign Raina Temple in Star Wars the Old Republic and Sydney in PAYDAY2. She was the host of the short-lived children series My Magical World as well as hosting a number of small TV and film projects including Baby Let Your Hair Hang Down and Human by any other name.
She is the host of the children's podcast Talking and Stuff with Georgia Van C.
In her six years as a stand-up comedian she performed on some of America’s biggest comedy stages including The Hollywood Improv, The laugh Factory and The Comedy Store, she hosted shows at the Irvine and Brea Improvs and wrote for a number of child stand-up comedians.
Earlier in her life she gained success from being a children’s entertainer in theaters traveling through Australia and Asia.
In 2008 Georgia started her own production company in order to create positive content that educates, entertains and inspires people to be their best selves. Over the past 10 years the company has focused predominantly on documentaries and children's content.
Through Georgia’s Public Relations (PR) background the company has also led the physical launch of numerous gaming titles including The Walking Dead, John Wick, Payday2, BladeRunner and DeadbyDylight.
Georgia has used her PR and creative experience in a very personal way to create change in a very public way. Her theatre production readMylips… was awarded the Tattersal’s Enterprise and Achievement Award for stopping the silence surrounding Eating Disorders in Australia. Her award-winning movie about her journey with Alopecia – Baby Let Your Hair Hang Down — has been featured on ABC’s 2020, Huffington Post, the AOL homepage, KTLA and numerous film festivals. She is currently in post-production for a 3-part VR documentary – Human by any Other Name chronicling the experience of refugees, orphans and those living on the street.
Advocacy work
Georgia is a highly engaged advisor and volunteer with many non-Profit organizations that are proving support and creating sustainable solutions for ending poverty, homelessness and childhood trauma and is specifically working to infuse VR into social impact work to increase donor and cause engagement.
She is a public ambassador for Alopecia Awareness, and speaks on topics of self-worth, as well as cross cultural empathy, mental wellness, social impact and ‘making a difference’ to audiences across the globe.
Through her very public and honest healing of mental and physical illness and abuse she has learned, personally, the ineffable value and joy of turning your greatest hardships into your greatest accomplishments and is passionate about ensuring everyone she meets experiences this same joy.
Education
Georgia obtained her Public Relations degree from RMIT University. She was awarded the Patricia Guthrie Memorial Award – for one outstanding graduating female student. Her thesis on ‘The role of Public Relations Within an Arts Organization When Attempting To Make Beneficial Social Change’ was named the top graduating thesis from the University and was published in The Australian Arts Council – Arts RIPPA.
She has since received her MA - Leadership in Global Sustainable Development, a Certificate in the Neuroscience of Happiness from University of CA, Berkeley and continues to be an avid learner. She knows that ensuring that everyone around the world has access to education is the key to our brightest future and she is determined to see it possible in her life time.