Zendaya donates $100k to theatre where she started her career

Actress and singer Zendaya has donated $100,000 to California Shakespeare Theater in Oakland, the place where she began her career.

She has teamed up with the Women Donors Network (WDN) to hand over the sum to California Shakespeare Theater in Oakland’s North Star Fund, which helps cover the cost of improvements and future shows.

Leena Barakat, President and CEO of WDN, said: “We are very pleased to be able to offer this general support grant in partnership with Zendaya. We hope that our funding supports your work and helps further your strategic vision, wherever funds are most needed.”

Officials of the theatre also paid tribute to the ‘Euphoria’ star for her generosity.

Clive Worsley, the theatre’s executive director, said: “We are deeply grateful to Zendaya and the WDN for their partnership, and their generous grant of $100,000 to the North Star Fund, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

“This gift helps keep Cal Shakes going strong as we prepare for our 50th Anniversary season!

“Her support moves us forward in a big way toward upgrading sound and lighting systems, enhancing the café, and of course funding our 50th Anniversary production of ‘As You Like It’, directed by Elizabeth Carter. Thank you Zendaya and the WDN!”

According to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper, Zendaya joined the theatre because her mother worked there for 12 summers when she was a child.

Zendaya shot to fame in her early teens when she was cast alongside actress Bella Thorne in the Disney’s ‘Shake It Up’.