When Minka Kelly’s mother passed away in 2008, she decided to channel her energy into helping others.
“I found that the only way to fill that hole in my heart was to be of service. And I wanted to be of service with women,” she told Best Products.
That service started with creating a nonprofit with her now best friend, Barrett Ward. In 2009, the two traveled to Ethiopia and Kenya to teach women who were coming out of the commercial sex industry how to make goods so they could generate their own income. The nonprofit has since been renamed fashionABLE, but Kelly and Ward now have multiple partners in those African countries to develop products, such as jewelry and home goods.
Her drive for helping others is one of the reasons that Kelly feels good about beginning year two of her partnership with DOVE Chocolate. Last year she traveled to Ecuador, where some of the brand’s chocolate is cultivated, to see the entire bean-to-bar process and how hands-on it is. But that’s not the only thing that connected Kelly to DOVE.
“I was amazed at the work that they do with the women in West Africa and how they empower their female farmers,” she said. “We all thrive when women are empowered.”
Although much of her focus these days is on being a philanthropist, Kelly continues being an actress, best known for her roles in TV shows like Friday Night Lights and Jane the Virgin, as well as films like The Roommate. Kelly’s latest role is playing Dawn Granger/Dove in DC Universe’s Titans, premiering this upcoming fall. The series is based off of the Teen Titans comic books that debuted in the 1960s.
Titans Vol. 2: Made in Manhattan (Rebirth) (Titans: Rebirth)
Titans Vol. 2: Made in Manhattan (Rebirth) (Titans: Rebirth)
As you would imagine, playing a superhero means intense workouts to look as good as Kelly does in her super suit. “[The workout routine] was pretty tough. My trainer worked me pretty hard, and we did a lot of weights and a lot of metabolic training to keep my heart rate up,” she said.
Luckily, Kelly already eats pretty healthy — besides treating herself to Dove Dark Chocolate with Almonds on Friday nights. “The biggest change would probably be cutting down on the wine,” she said with a laugh.
Titans premieres this fall, so get ready to see Kelly suited up, along with Brenton Thwaites, Teagan Croft, Ryan Potter, and Alan Ritchson. “The comic book fans are so passionate and care so deeply about the character, so I just hope that I make them happy,” Kelly said.
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As the senior editor of social and social news, Caitlyn covers the tastiest, coolest, and strangest products for BestProducts.com, and she is the lead of social strategy for Popular Mechanics, Runner's World, and Bicycling Magazine; her work has also appeared in POPSUGAR, InStyle, Stylecaster, among others. In her free time (if there is such a thing), she’s probably watching reality TV, online shopping, or cuddling with her dog, Waffle. She is a Wawa-loving Jersey girl who went to Monmouth University for communication, journalism, and interactive media.
