Loreen Arbus

Board Member Emerita
Bio

WMC Leadership Award Recipient 2022

Having been a writer and producer, a consultant to various networks, and an executive in network television, cable, syndication, and print media, Ms. Arbus has extensive experience in the entertainment industry. For many years, she taught both “How to Develop and Sell Your Project for Television” and Argentine Tango at the Learning Annex in L.A. and New York.

As a disability rights activist, she is committed to the work initiated by her parents (Isabelle and Leonard H. Goldenson, Founder and Chairman of ABC) who co-founded what is today the fifth largest health agency in America, United Cerebral Palsy (UCP), which serves people with a wide range of disabilities. Ms. Arbus is the Founder and Chair of the annual Women Who Care Luncheon, a high-profile New York tradition that generated global media attention and was continuously sold out during its fifteen-year run, raising over eight million dollars to benefit UCP of NYC, now called ADAPT Community Network.

Ms. Arbus co-founded the Media Access Office, now operating in partnership with the California Governor’s Committee, to increase employment, improve depiction, and raise consciousness regarding disability. In addition, she was Co-Founder and, for seven years, Co-Chair of the Lucy Awards for Women in Film/Los Angeles. Ms. Arbus is also among the core group of founders of the Los Angeles Donor Circle of The Women’s Foundation of California.

In 2014, she worked as Executive Producer of the acclaimed documentary, A Whole Lott More, which examined work and disability through new perspectives, revealing the struggles of over eight million people in America with developmental disabilities to join the work force.

She currently serves on over a dozen non-profit boards including: Women Moving Millions; Paley Center for Media; The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation; Harvard Kennedy School of Government Women’s Leadership Board; Harvard School of Public Health; Harvard Medical School Advisory Committee for Neurobiology; Visionary Women; Town Hall Los Angeles; Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation for Cancer Research; and Salomé Chamber Orchestra.

She has also served as a two-term Governor for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences; on the boards of the Producers Guild; the Caucus for Producers, Writers, and Directors; Women in Film; Women in Cable and Telecommunications; and as Chair of Women in Film International.

For over two decades, Ms. Arbus co-hosted a monthly luncheon for prominent, high-level women in communications. Over 15,000 women who represent various facets of the entertainment industry—including but not limited to television, film, print, public relations, music, new media, as well as philanthropy— have participated in highly stimulating conversations which evolve into open and provocative discussions about culture, industry projects, and issues that impact the daily lives of women in the industry and more.

Ms. Arbus has been recognized by numerous organizations for her humanitarian and professional accomplishments. A partial list of over 200 awards and achievements include: The Heart of Giving Award presented by President Bill Clinton in 2001; Genii Award for Lifetime Achievement presented by American Women in Radio & Television; the Power 100 Women In Entertainment presented by The Hollywood Reporter; the National Association of Women Business Owners Hall of Fame Award; the Distinguished Service Award presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences; and the Headliner Award presented by Women In Communications, Inc.

She was chosen as one (of forty) of the Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World 2002 and has been honored with the Disability Awareness Award presented by The California Governor’s Committee for Employment of Disabled Persons, the Women of Action Award presented by the Israel Cancer Research Fund, the Woman of Achievement Award presented by the Friends of Sheba Medical Center, and the Project Angel Food Award 2002. In 2011, Gloria Steinem presented her with the Ms. Foundation for Women’s Woman of Vision and Action Award. In December 2006, she was inducted as an honoree into the She Made It: Women Creating Television and Radio collection at the Paley Center for Media. In 2014, she was honored with the UN’s Woman Pioneer Award. Her speech, focused on disability rights, was seen in over 120 countries on the occasion of Women’s Entrepreneurship Day. In 2015, she was honored at Los Angeles' Fahrenheit Gala by the L.A. Fire Department Foundation alongside Queen Latifah. In 2016, Ms. Arbus was featured as Altruist of the Year in the 2016 edition of Modern Luxury's Charity and Social Datebook Los Angeles, and received the Project Pay It Forward Award. She was honored with the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health Leadership Award in 2016 in New York City with fellow honorees Robin Roberts and Howard Cross. In the spring of 2017, Loreen was honored at the Salomé Chamber Orchestra Gala, at the UN Women for Peace Association Luncheon, and with the Ellis Island Medal of Honor Award. In 2018, Loreen was honored by the Museum of Arts & Design in New York City and at the 65th Annual Share Inc. Boomtown Gala in Los Angeles in a special presentation by Gloria Allred. Loreen was honored with the 2019 Disability Rights Advocates’ Eagle Award in New York City.

Ms. Arbus is a renowned professional Argentine Tango dancer and choreographer, having co-starred in and co-produced the first theatrical Argentine Tango stage show to originate in the United States, with which she toured four continents.

A member of the Writers Guild, Producers Guild, the Authors Guild, and SAG-AFTRA, Ms. Arbus divides her time between New York, Los Angeles, and Buenos Aires.

For more information on the work of Loreen Arbus please visit www.arbusprod.com