Hollywood has taken note of Heritage Foundation visiting fellow Virginia Walden Ford.
Emmy Award winner Uzo Aduba, star of Netflix's hit show, “Orange Is the New Black,” is playing Walden Ford in the Moving Pictures Institute’s drama titled “Miss Virginia.” The movie will be released Oct. 18 in select theaters and on video on demand.
Inspired by Walden Ford’s life story, Aduba plays a struggling single mother who fears she is losing her 15-year-old son to the rough streets of Washington, D.C.
“Unwilling to see him drop out and deal drugs, she puts him in a private school. But when she can’t afford tuition, she launches a movement to change the system that is destroying him and thousands like him,” according to the film’s official website.
Walden Ford has been a visiting fellow with Heritage since 2008 and a leader in the fight for school choice for almost two decades.
“Her unwavering fight to bring school choice to Washington, D.C., has now benefited thousands of children, who have been able to access schools of choice that work for them,” says Lindsey Burke, director of Heritage’s Center for Education Policy and Will Skillman fellow.
“Because of Virginia's tireless efforts, low-income children in the nation's capital can choose schools where they are safe and can access an effective education,” Burke adds. “Virginia has impacted the lives of thousands of children and their families for the better.”
Walden Ford recently talked to Heritage's Kelsey Bolar on the “Problematic Women” podcast. She asked Walden Ford what it was like to be featured in a movie.
“It was pretty nerve-wracking,” says Walden Ford. “I am not a person that craves to be on the front. Actually, when I was working with parents here for the legislative fight, I made sure that parents learned how to be in the front. That’s the role I like playing. I like teaching people how to take the lead. So it’s interesting.”
Read more about Walden Ford’s story as she wrote it for The Daily Signal here and listen to her interview on “Problematic Women.”
