Founder & CEO
The Goldie Hawn Foundation I MindUP

Goldie Hawn is an Academy Award winning actress, producer, director, and best-selling author. She is the Founder of The Goldie Hawn Foundation I MindUP, a public charity with a mission to equip children with the mental fitness they need to lead smarter, healthier, happier, and ultimately more productive lives.

Alarmed by increases in school violence, youth depression and suicide, and the persistent failure of the education system to help children cope with increasingly stressful lives, Hawn started The Goldie Hawn Foundation in 2003, applying cutting edge scientific research to create education programs that support the social and emotional development of children. Working with leading neuroscientists, educators, psychologists and researchers, the Foundation developed MindUP an evidence-based program and teaching model that provide tools to help children self-regulate and understand their own emotions, reduce stress and anxiety, sharpen concentration, increase empathy, and improve academic performance. In 2022, the Goldie Hawn Foundation, announced the launch of MindUP for Life Digital—an interactive online learning platform allowing parents, teachers and children across the globe to access the program online. MindUP is now serving over seven million children in 48 countries. 

Hawn authored two best-selling books, a memoir, A Lotus Grows in the Mud, in 2005 and in 2011, 10 Mindful Minutes, offering guidance on raising healthy, joyful, and resilient children. In 2015, Hawn released 10 Mindful Minutes: A Journal, a practical application to her last book, offering prompts and exercises to enhance the reader’s daily life through mindfulness practice.

Goldie has lived with her partner Kurt Russell for over 30 years and has four grown children, Oliver and Kate Hudson, Wyatt Russell, and Boston Russell. They have also been blessed with seven grandchildren. Hawn believes “children light the path to joy” and dedicated much of her life’s work to creating innovative solutions to help children thrive.