about htd board of directors

Richard Gere is an internationally known film actor, dedicated social activist and philanthropist. For more than 25 years, he has worked to bring attention and effective solutions to humanitarian issues rooted in intolerance, injustice, and inequality. Through his private foundation, the Gere Foundation, Mr. Gere has served as a longtime advocate and supporter of numerous human rights and charitable causes.

Since the early 80's Mr. Gere has been at the forefront of the fight against HIV and AIDS where he began a personal campaign against stigma associated with the disease. During this time, Mr. Gere has also worked vigorously to protect the human rights and cultural continuity of the Tibetan people. He was the Founding Chairman of Tibet House New York and joined the Board of Directors of the International Campaign for Tibet in order to more effectively address national and international forums of influence. To bring awareness to the Tibetan crisis, Mr. Gere addressed the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, the U.S. House of Representatives, the European Parliament, and the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva.

Deepening his commitment to philanthropy, Mr. Gere founded the Healing the Divide Foundation in 2001. It is the mission of Healing the Divide to promote understanding, cooperation and visionary approaches to issues that threaten the welfare and prosperity of communities throughout the world. Healing the Divide is currently focusing their efforts on providing health care to the Tibetan Monastic community of India through the Tibetan Health Initiative.

Mr. Gere has received honors from the Harvard AIDS Institute, amfAR and Amnesty International. He has also received the prestigious Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award, and the Marian Anderson Award for artists whose leadership benefits humanity.