Sarah Jones
UNICEF Spokesperson on Violence Against Children
SARAH JONES is a Tony Award® winning playwright, actor, and poet. Her multicharacter solo shows include Bridge & Tunnel, which was originally produced OffBroadway by Oscar-winner Meryl Streep.
Her ability to transform herself into multiple characters allows her to convey diverse
perspectives to audience members. Her talent for making universal experiences feel
exceptionally personal has taken her to India, Europe, Indonesia, and South Africa to
perform for audiences such as the United Nations, members of the U.S. Congress,
and the Supreme Court of Nepal.
Ms. Jones’s special relationship with human rights work began when she attended
the United Nations International School. Her exposure to multinational students
fueled her ability to imagine a wide range of characters with relatable experiences.
After attending Bryn Mawr College, Ms. Jones moved back to New York to launch her
career, with the critically acclaimed Surface Transit. Her second show, Women Can’t
Wait!, commissioned by Equality Now! to address the human rights of women and
girls, was performed at the United Nations for the International Conference on
Women’s Rights. A subsequent commission by the National Immigration Forum
yielded Waking the American Dream, a performance embracing the fictionalized
experiences and struggles of twelve immigrants. This show became the inspiration
for her critically-acclaimed, long running Broadway hit, Bridge & Tunnel. For more
information please see: www.sarahjonesonline.com
Work with UNICEF:
In May 2007, Ms. Jones traveled with UNICEF staff to Bali, Indonesia to perform
before hundreds of delegates at the 116th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary
Union. Ms. Jones’s created a new and original performance piece in under one
month designed to educate Parliamentarians on the detrimental effects of violence
against children and steps that can be taken to address violence against children.
Many members of Parliament commented that the performance was the highlight of
the meeting and Ms. Jones has been asked to perform in several countries as a
result of the performance.
On September 7, 2007, Ms. Jones performed for the UNICEF Executive Board during
the special session on Child Protection.
The success of her performance at the IPU, as well as Ms. Jones’s expressed
commitment to educating audiences about violence against children, makes her an
ideal candidate to represent UNICEF as a spokesperson with a possible view to
becoming a Goodwill Ambassador. Her outstanding capacity to capture the essence
of her subjects and translate them into performances allows even the most remote
audiences to connect with the stories she tells. The audience becomes personally
engaged in a way that merely reading statistics cannot achieve. This essential ability
to effectively relate to audiences would spread UNICEF’s mandate and would engage
new audiences in UNICEF’s mission to protect children from violence. Sarah Jones
has the ability, through her educational as well as entertaining performances, to
show audiences that an end to violence against children is possible.
Ms. Jones is available to travel, including to conflict affected countries to represent
UNICEF.
Ms. Jones speaks English, French and Spanish though she performs in English.