An actress from East Providence was honored with a Community Hero Award at the Rhode Island State House on Thursday, March 28 at an event led by Rep. Camille F.J. Vella-Wilkinson (D-Dist. 21, Warwick).
The award was given to Kali Reis, who is is a member of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe, by a panel of state representatives who recognized her for her support and advocacy on behalf of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls, a grassroots movement to raise awareness through organizing marches, building databases of the missing, and conducting domestic violence trainings and other informational sessions for police.
The first indigenous woman fighter to become a boxing world champion, Reis has attained six World Titles in two weight classes. She has received much recognition for her achievements including an induction into the North American Indigenous Athletic Hall of Fame.
At the State House event, Reis was presented with a community hero award, which includes an inscription that reads, “She needed a hero, so she became one.” Reis also received the key to the city in East Providence in front of her friends and family.
Reis most recently starred alongside Jodie Foster in HBO’s “True Detective: Night Country.”
The event also highlighted the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence, which will provide outreach and education at the event.
The panel includes Representatives Katherine S. Kazarian (D-Dist. 63, East Providence, Pawtucket), Rebecca M. Kislak, (D-Dist. 4, Providence), Brianna Henries (D-Dist. 64, East Providence, Pawtucket), Tina L. Spears (D-Dist. 36, Charlestown, Westerly, South Kingstown, New Shoreham), Megan L. Cotter (D-Dist. 39, Exeter, Hopkinton, Richmond), Jennifer A. Stewart (D-Dist. 59, Pawtucket), Karen Alzate (D-Dist. 60, Pawtucket, Central Falls) and Rep. Susan Donovan (D-Dist. 69, Bristol, Portsmouth).
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisted a What’sUpNewp journalist with the reporting included in this story.