Born and raised in New York City, Gina Belafonte has spent her life in the arenas of entertainment and activism where her professional work thrives today. As the youngest child of Julie and Harry Belafonte, whose impact in these fields is among the most influential and progressive in the world, Gina’s passions come as no surprise.
Gina was the lead producer on the internationally acclaimed documentary film, SING YOUR SONG, exploring the extraordinary life and legacy of Harry Belafonte that was selected as the opening film for the Sundance Film Festival
in 2011.
After college Gina worked for many years as an actress in NYC, with several off-broadway and touring companies such as The National Shakespeare Company where she captured the title role as Juliet in Shakespears’s Romeo and Juliet and work alongside such greats as Geraldine Page, F. Murray Abraham, Anne Jackson and Elisabeth Franz at The Mirror Repertory Company in NYC, under the Artistic Direction of John Strasberg.
A series of opportunities to work in film and television moved her to Hollywood, where she appeared in several guest-starring roles, then landing a television series called THE COMMISH. Missing her first love and a lifelong passion for stage production Gina began to produce and direct theater in Los Angeles.
Gina’s technical expertise and behind-the-scenes insight into the world of film and television production were developed while working with Paula Weinstein and Barry Levinson at Baltimore Spring Creek/Warner Brothers.
While being exposed to some of the most transformative social movements of the 20th Century, Gina knew she had a calling and after becoming a mother, she followed her early childhood environment by immersing herself in activism. Collaborating with leading gang interventionist, Bo Taylor, Gina developed a deeper understanding of gang culture by working in the California prison system and co-founded a non-profit organization called The Gathering For Justice. This multi-cultural, multi-generational organization focuses on youth incarceration. Taking this to the next level Gina co-founded with her father and Raoul Roach Snakofa.org which brings the arts and activism together. Sankofa.org educates, motivates, and activates artists and allies in service of grassroots movements and equitable change. "We focus on the mass incarceration of all ages, income disparities in our communities, immigration issues and we took on the overall banner of violence and the criminalization of poverty. Gina currently sits on the Board of 2nd Call a community-based organization designed to save lives, by reducing violence and assisting in the personal development of high-risk individuals, proven offenders, ex-felons, parolees, and others who society disregards, Get Lit that uses poetry to increase literacy, empower youth, and inspire communities and is chair of the board of the internationally acclaimed Actors Gang Theatre founded by Tim Robbins.
