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Wednesday star Jenna Ortega is proud of her work as an ambassador for UNAIDS. The organization connects community and government leaders to those who need life-saving HIV services. Ortega’s commitment to the organization stems from a very personal reason: a family member who died from AIDS.

A member of Jenna Ortega’s family died from AIDS

Jenna Ortega has a personal connection to the organization UNAIDS. She has worked with them for several years to bring more awareness to the disease that took her grandfather’s life.

She released a statement regarding her work with the organization on its official website. Ortega says, “I want to help eliminate the stigma of AIDS and get people talking about it.”

She continued, “Make it normal. Bring it up. It’s a disease that affects all of us.”

Jenna Ortega honors her grandfather by involving herself in AIDS causes

Jenna Ortega in 2016 on the red carpet for a charity event benefitting the Elizabeth Claser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
Jenna Ortega in 2016 on the red carpet for a charity event benefitting the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation | Tasia Wells/Getty Images for Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation

In an interview for Grumpy Magazine, Jenna Ortega elaborated on why she believes AIDS awareness is vital. The disease robbed her from getting to know her grandfather.

“I never got the opportunity to meet him,” Ortega explains. “And I don’t want anyone else to have to go through that.”

She continued, “So I found out about UNAIDS, and what they’ve done so far is incredible. I wanted to be a part of it.”

In 2018, the Latino Commission on AIDS inducted the actor as its Youth Ambassador at its annual Cielo benefit gala. This commission uses its platform to promote AIDS service programs and initiatives to increase awareness, prevention, and treatment education, as well as build capacity among other organizations serving Latino communities throughout the U.S. and the Territories.

Jenna Ortega is ‘passionate’ about using her platform to do good work

Jenna Ortega understands that her celebrity can be used for good. She is not only passionate about causes involving AIDS awareness and prevention but also causes that support LGBTQIA2+ rights, gun control, and immigration rights. 

To People en Espanol, Ortega admits that standing up for what she believes in isn’t always easy. However, it is always right.

“I’ve always been a very passionate person, and I was brought up—my parents wouldn’t let me become an actor unless I used my platform for good. And if I didn’t, then I had to stop, and I was going to be taken out of it,” she revealed.

Ortega continued, “I think it’s important for me to talk about social issues and bring them up. But also encourage conversation rather than shut down other ideas that people may have.”

This type of thinking dominates the actor’s mind more than being famous. “Discussion is so important. And this is a country that we have to share together, and we’re not going to do any good by attacking each other or not letting the other person speak,” she concluded.

Jenna Ortega is scheduled to begin shooting the second season of Netflix’s smash hit series Wednesday. Production was slated to start this Fall, but the ongoing writers’ strike could push that date further back than its original scheduled start.

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