Natalie Evans, Baroness Evans of Bowes Park
Natalie Jessica Evans, Baroness Evans of Bowes Park, (born 29 November 1975) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as Leader of the House of Lords. She was made a life peer in 2014.
Natalie Portman
Portman, who is an advocate for animal rights, became a vegetarian when she was eight years old, a decision which came after she witnessed a demonstration of laser surgery on a chicken while attending a medical conference with her father. She became a vegan in 2009 after reading Jonathan Safran Foer's "Eating Animals" and later produced a documentary on factory farming systems in the U.S. by the same title. In September 2017, she was recognized for her work on the film by the Environmental Media Association Awards with the Ongoing Commitment Award. She does not eat animal products or wear fur, feathers, or leather. "All of my shoes are from Target and Stella McCartney", she has said. In 2007, she launched her own brand of vegan footwear. In 2007, Portman traveled to Rwanda with Jack Hanna, to film the documentary, "Gorillas on the Brink". Later, at a naming ceremony, Portman named a baby gorilla Gukina, which means "to play." Portman has been an advocate of environmental causes since childhood, when she joined an environmental song and dance troupe known as World Patrol Kids. She is also a member of the One Voice movement.
Portman has also supported anti-poverty activities. In 2004 and 2005, she traveled to Uganda, Guatemala, and Ecuador as the Ambassador of Hope for FINCA International, an organization that promotes micro-lending to help finance women-owned businesses in developing countries. In an interview conducted backstage at the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia and appearing on the PBS program "Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria", she discussed microfinance. Host Fareed Zakaria said that he was "generally wary of celebrities with fashionable causes", but included the segment with Portman because "she really knew her stuff". In the "Voices" segment of the April 29, 2007, episode of the ABC Sunday morning program "This Week with George Stephanopoulos", Portman discussed her work with FINCA and how it can benefit women and children in Third World countries. In fall-2007, she visited several university campuses, including Harvard, USC, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Stanford, Princeton, New York University, and Columbia, to inspire students with the power of microfinance and to encourage them to join the Village Banking Campaign to help families and communities lift themselves out of poverty.