Mavis Leno

Who is Mavis Leno?

Mavis Elizabeth Nicholson Leno is an American philanthropist, feminist and the wife of talk show host Jay Leno. They have been married since 1980 and have no children.

A leading feminist in California, as well as in the United States and internationally, she keeps a low profile in comparison to her husband, choosing instead to work behind the scenes of the non-profit, politically charged groups she supports and runs.

Mavis Leno has been the chair of the Feminist Majority Foundation's Campaign to Stop Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan since 1997. In 1999, she and her husband donated $100,000 to the organization, to further the cause of educating the public about the plight of Afghan women under the Taliban. The organization successfully protested the construction of an oil pipeline through Afghanistan, which could potentially have brought in billions of dollars to the Taliban. According to Melissa Rossi, Mavis Leno was a driving force in changing the opinion of U.S. President Bill Clinton and the executives of the now defunct oil company Unocal Corporation concerning the Taliban, after Leno had shed light on the group's treatment of women.