Shawne Duperon is an American scholar, good gossip researcher,
media expert, public speaker and a TV producer. She has won 6
Emmy Awards
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
for her notable work which has also been featured in major media.
She is best known for founding
The Project Forgive Foundation,
a non-profit leadership foundation nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2016.
The foundation is supported by Archbishop
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbish ...
.
Career
Duperon has been examining the phenomenon of gossip as a research subject for 10 years.
As a part of her research, she founded the case study project by the title of ''Project Forgive''.
The project focuses on "extraordinary acts of forgiveness in the face of heartbreak and senseless tragedy"
and serving as an inquiry for the conversation for forgiveness.
Duperon has also been shooting a documentary based on Project Forgive stories to inspire a forgiveness movement around the globe. Using gossip theory, a campaign was
crowdsource
Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digita ...
d as a
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, K ...
project in April 2012
for the completion of a documentary.
The catalyst for the documentary was the story surrounding the drunk driving deaths of a Detroit area woman and her two young sons in 2005.
Duperon was a family friend of those killed. It was later revealed Dupt on was also a family friend of the driver. The surviving father, Gary Weinstein, eventually forgave the man responsible.
In response to the national news coverage and interest in social media, Duperon created the Project Forgive Foundation to provide resources and interactive content relating to forgiveness and leadership in the workplace, supported by companies such as
Verizon Wireless
Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the divi ...
,
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobiles ...
and Cryoderm.
Duperon has been featured on major media channels
such as
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the ...
,
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
,
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...
,
and
Inc. Magazine
''Inc.'' is an American business magazine founded in 1979 and based in New York City. The magazine publishes six issues per year, along with surrounding online and social media content. The magazine also produces several live and virtual events ...
. Duperon is a six time Emmy award winner.
She is a member of the
National Speakers Association
The National Speakers Association (NSA) is a US based association that supports motivational and other public speakers. It is the oldest and largest of 13 international associations comprising the Global Speakers Federation.
History
NSA was f ...
and a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP). Her other awards include "Innovator of the Year" for 2005, and being among top-10 women business owners in Michigan by The
National Association of Women Business Owners The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) is an organization in the United States founded in 1975 that has the purpose of networking the approximately 10.6 million women-owned businesses so as to provide mutual support, share resourc ...
in 2008.
In 2016, Duperon was nominated for the
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...
.
References
{{reflist
American television producers
American women television producers