An actor and activist, Duke is passionate about equity in health care delivery

“I decided to work with Partners In Health because the nonprofit is dedicated to changing healthcare models and making them more equitable.”

Winston Duke made his feature film debut in Black Panther, the highest-grossing film of 2018, as well as the third highest-grossing film ever in the United States. Duke played the fan-favorite character M’Baku. The role earned him his first NAACP nomination for Breakout of the Year.

He has made his mark as well in other movies including: Marvel’s Avenger's: Infinity War and Avenger's: End Game, and Peter Berg’s Netflix crime drama Spencer Confidential. His performance in Jordan Peele’s, Us earned him an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture. Recently, Duke both played the lead role and served as an Executive Producer in the Sony Picture Classics’ Nine Days. Other flattering recognitions include the Advanced Imaging Society's Social Justice Lumiere Award, Breakout Award at the 2018 Savannah Film Festival and a highlight as one of the top ten actors in Hollywood Reporter’s Next Generation issue.

{"preview_thumbnail":"/sites/default/files/styles/video_embed_wysiwyg_preview/public/video_thumbnails/dV8iRTqg_cY.jpg?itok=8KVY_kEb","video_url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV8iRTqg_cY","settings":{"responsive":1,"width":"854","height":"480","autoplay":0},"settings_summary":["Embedded Video (Responsive)."]}

Alongside his acting career, Duke has also been a long-time philanthropist, humanitarian and gender equity activist. Duke is an advocate for the HeForShe movement and most recently issued a global call to action for gender equality and gender equity during the United Nations HeForShe Impact Summit. He also has joined the American Diabetes Association®️ to spark a national conversation about diabetes - a disease that impacts nearly half of the U.S. adult population.

PIH welcomed him as the organization's first global ambassador in March 2022 to raise awareness for public health needs in developing nations. “I decided to work with Partners In Health because the nonprofit is dedicated to changing healthcare models and making them more equitable and accessible for people all over the world”, said Duke following his trip to Rwanda in May 2022 to better understand site operations and patient care. Duke first embraced this partnership by moderating PIH's International Women's Day #BreakTheBias webinar, that addressed dismantling sexism and gender discrimination in healthcare and defended gender equity as an integral part of global health equity.