Rihanna

Robyn “Rihanna” Fenty is known for Super Bowl halftime shows, the multibillion-dollar brand Fenty Beauty, and a decade-long absence from the recording studio. Less known is that since 2012, her Clara Lionel Foundation has directed more than $100 million across climate resilience, women’s entrepreneurship, arts and culture, education, and healthcare in the Caribbean, the U.S., and East Africa. She has built a team of global health professionals and policy experts whose approach has attracted partnerships with Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and with Jay-Z's Shawn Carter Foundation. 

Rihanna started the foundation after her grandmother died of cancer complications. Honoring her grandparents Clara and Lionel, the foundation’s first act was to equip the hospital where her grandmother was treated with its first modern radiotherapy machine. It has since become a major funder of disaster response, giving away $33 million in a single year during the COVID pandemic. The foundation has also sought to prepare for crises, rather than simply react. In 2018, following a pair of brutal hurricane seasons, the foundation began helping health clinics across the Caribbean prepare for the next storm—physically hardening infrastructure and equipping them with solar power.

Last October revealed the urgency of such work when Hurricane Melissa struck the Caribbean as one of the strongest landfalling Atlantic hurricanes on record. The reinforced clinics had not reached Jamaica, where Melissa displaced 279,000 people and severely impacted five hospitals, but the Clara Lionel Foundation has since launched a fund to support rebuilding there, focusing on heath, water, and access to education.