Inspirational Women of the Entertainment Industry: The Inspired By Gillian Team
by Danielle Turchiano

“It was four o’clock in the morning, and we were having lots of coffee,” actress Elizabeth Rodriguez laughs while explaining how the non-profit organization, IBG (Inspired By Gillian), she co-founded came to be. “It all started in a diner!” Rodriguez shakes her head, perhaps in awe of how simple it all sounds in retrospect. After all, putting together such an organization is no simple feat, especially for women who do it in their “spare” time.

Fellow actress Caileigh Scott picks up Rodriguez’ train of thought immediately: “We had just come from the movie [the premiere of The X-Files: I Want To Believe], very riled up wondering what we could do to help promote it…and help a charity…I wrote down the idea on a napkin!” And the rest, as they say, is history.

Created to honor Gillian Anderson’s own philanthropy, IBG also consists of publicist Karen Mendez and producer Patricia Steffy. The organization’s mission statement is “philanthropy through the arts…coming together to create awareness for under-funded charities.” Their first event as a team was a screening of the two X-Files films back-to-back. Originally set up to be a fairly intimate affair among diehard fans, the event soon drew the attention of 20th Century Fox and, moved by the efforts, Writer/Producer Frank Spotnitz signed on to do a pre-screening Q&A with attendees. TV Guide’s Erin Fox even paid her own way out to L.A. to serve as moderator.

“It was never a question that one hundred percent of the proceeds would go to the charity,” Mendez emphasizes. IBG relies heavily on sponsorship, donations, and the like mindedness of their peers in order to make their events so successful.

To date, IBG has raised just over five thousand dollars for NF Inc. (a charity chosen in part due to Ms. Anderson’s own involvement in it) and more money is still trickling in from the online auctions. In the end they expect to have around seven thousand for the cause. “It’s not just about the money,” Steffy is quick to point out, though. “It’s about that raising of awareness.”

IBG is a true testament to what driven and ambitious women can accomplish when they put their heads together with a common goal. The four talented entertainment professionals who formed IBG were virtual strangers until that fateful day last July but, as Mendez points out, IBG is a way to do a lot of good and to “put two loves together.”

“You’re never going to know if you have enough time until you just do it,” Rodriguez admits. “So just do it!”

IBG is currently planning a handful of upcoming events to benefit worthy charities such as Off The Street Kids and the East L.A. Women’s Shelter. To find out how you can help or for information on the events that were not available at the time of this interview, please visit their website: http://allthings.inspiredbygillian.com/

photo by danielle turchiano

caileigh scott, charity, elizabeth rodriguez, entertainment, erin fox, frand spotnitz, gillian anderson, ibg, karen mendez, patricia steffy, philanthropy, women, x-files