Willa Shalit

Willa Shalit—artist, author, social entrepreneur and philanthropist—uses art and media to achieve social change. Willa is Founding Partner in the consulting firm Road to Market where she leads cause-related and corporate marketing and communications projects. She brought women’s economic opportunity into post-conflict zones and communities devastated by natural disasters, working with Palestinian and Israeli women, Rwandan genocide survivors, and artisans in post-earthquake Haiti.

The creator of two flagship “purchase with a purpose” brands for Macy’s, Inc., she was an original producer of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues and co-founded V-Day, which to date has raised and distributed more than $95M to help stop violence against women and girls. In 2012 she co-founded Maiden Nation, a global platform for women designers. She has served as a Special Advisor to the United Nations Development Fund for Women and the United Nations Ethical Fashion Initiative.

The author and editor of several volumes, she’s produced projects in a wide range of media from theater to film, television, websites, digital media and fine arts. Her work has been the subject of an Emmy award-winning PBS television special and has been reported by global media including The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, Marie Claire, and O, The Oprah Magazine.