Avis Richards is an American producer, director and philanthropist. In 2005, she founded the
Birds Nest Foundation.
Based in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
, the
501(c)(3) organization works to provide other non-profit charities media content at little to no cost. In addition, Richards has produced and directed hundreds of episodes and films including ''Lunch: The Film'', ''Lunch NYC'' and ''Dylan’s Lunchbox''.
''Lunch: The Film'' focuses on the nutritional value of school lunches in the United States, offering alternative options to traditional school lunches. The short documentary earned Richards recognition from the Davey Awards, Poppy Jasper Film Festival, W3 Awards, Empixx Awards, and Stevie Awards.
''Lunch NYC'', shown through NYC Media, focuses on the positive health movements taking place in New York City. The program was nominated for three
New York Emmy Awards
The New York Emmy Awards are a division of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences honoring those in television and advanced media in the tri-state New York-New Jersey-Connecticut and New York State. The division was founded in 1955 ...
in 2012 in the categories of community service, health/science: program feature/segment, and graphics: news/program. Likewise, the show ''Dylan's Lunchbox'', hosted by 16-year-old food critic Dylan Richards, features healthy restaurants throughout New York City and targets a young audience.
Richards launched the ''Ground Up Campaign'', an initiative to donate indoor academic gardens to 100 public schools in New York City. The campaign partnered with Veggiecation Program, Grow to Learn NYC and Green Bronx Machine.
Richards has worked with
Goldie Hawn
Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born November 21, 1945) is an American actress, dancer, producer, and singer. She rose to fame on the NBC sketch comedy program '' Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (1968–1970), before going on to receive the Academy Award and ...
,
John Legend
John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Eve ...
,
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolotin
, The Jewish Historical Society of New Haven, 1998.
,
Joe Torre
Joseph Paul Torre (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball executive, serving as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's (MLB) chief bas ...
, and
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is an eight-time major champion and an Olympic gold medalist, as well as a runner-up in seven other majors.
Agassi is the second of five men to ac ...
, among others.
Richards has received numerous honors including the 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award from the
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the Flagship un ...
and the
United Way
United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016.
United Way o ...
of New York City Women Leadership Council's Luncheon Honoree. In 2010, Richards was honored with University of Maryland's Nonprofit Industry Impact Award and the Activist Award for Advocacy and Leadership.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Avis
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
American philanthropists
University of Maryland, College Park alumni
People from Binghamton, New York