AP Top News｜为何蕾哈娜（Rihanna）扩大的克拉拉·莱昂内尔基金会（Clara Lionel Foundation）被视为名人慈善的典范

发布时间：2025-11-24 22:07

NEW YORK (AP) Rihanna is accustomed to defying convention.

The nine-time Grammy winner has turned her wide-ranging string of hits, including Umbrella and Work, into a business empire worth an estimated $1.4 billion, placing her high on last years Forbes list of the richest self-made American women. The Barbados native stunned entertainments biggest stage with a pregnancy reveal during her solo 2023 Super Bowl halftime show. And her successful Fenty Beauty cosmetics brand revolutionized the makeup industry with its inclusive shades.

But it is not the megastar-turned-moguls long-awaited follow-up to 2016s Anti album set to make waves this year. Its her philanthropy.

Named after Rihannas grandparents and funded partially through her brands, the Clara Lionel Foundation is coming off a refresh that is poised to direct more funds toward climate solutions and womens entrepreneurship in the under-invested regions of East Africa, the Caribbean and the U.S. South. After 13 years of relative anonymity, the nonprofit is ready for more visibility.

Jessie Schutt-Aine, the executive director of the Clara Lionel Foundation, poses for a portrait, Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in Kensington, Md. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Our founder is a woman from a small island nation whos got global reach. Shes an entrepreneur. Shes a mom. Shes a creative, said Executive Director Jessie Schutt-Aine. So, we want an organization that reflects that spirit and that energy. Shes bold and shes ambitious. Shes innovative. She always does things different. Shes a game changer.

Experts say its rare to see such intentionality among famous philanthropists. Clara Lionel Foundation has also garnered praise for its embrace of trust-based giving, which empowers recipients with unrestricted funding.

NDN Collective founder Nick Tilsen said CLF lets his Indigenous power-building nonprofit do the work on our terms and that other funders should take notes.

Theyre not a foundation thats all up in your business, either, Tilsen said. They support. They see the work. They allow us to do what we need to do.

Clara Lionel Foundations personal roots

Rihanna poses for photographers upon arrival at the The Fashion Awards 2024 on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024, in London. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP, File)

Rihanna started the foundation with a $516,000 contribution after her grandmother died of cancer complications in 2012. That year, the musician established an oncology center at Barbados main hospital to expand cancer screening and treatment. And the young foundation focused on healthcare and Barbados for much of last decade.

By 2019, though, CLF had begun prioritizing emergency preparedness. Grantmaking jumped to more than $33 million in 2020 as the nonprofit provided much-needed pandemic relief and backed racial justice efforts. Post-pandemic spending slowdowns coincided with its internal transition, according to tax filings.

A revamped team and refined priorities now match its broader ambitions. A new director for womens entrepreneurship, based in South Carolina, will build out that pillars programs. Black Feminist Fund co-founder Amina Doherty now oversees programs and impact. Rounding out its five new pillars are climate solutions, arts and culture, health access and equity, and future generations.

The youth focus was commended by Ashley Lashley, a 25-year-old whose foundation has worked with CLF to address environmental challenges in her native Barbados. She often hears leaders say that youth are the future, she said, but those statements rarely translate into actual support.

Rihannas foundation is a prime example of how women in power can help contribute to work that is being done at the community level, Lashley said.

Rihanna told The Associated Press she hopes CLF will continue to be a force for global inclusion in philanthropy.

She reflected on the foundations 13-year transformation in a statement: Today we have global reach, but that notion of love for community and for our roots runs deep in the DNA of the foundation.

Finding partners big and small

Jessie Schutt-Aine, the executive director of the Clara Lionel Foundation, poses for a portrait, Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in Kensington, Md. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

The latest example of that evolution is a partnership with The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Barbados invaluable history as an essential chapter in the broader story of the African diaspora is threatened by climate change, according to a Mellon press release.

Together, the two foundations announced, they will fund artist-led initiatives to protect that culture while inspiring new narratives and opportunities internationally.

Schutt-Aine views the partnership with Mellon the largest philanthropic supporter of the arts in the U.S. as a milestone for CLF. Justin Garrett Moore, the director of the Mellons Humanities in Place program, said the nonprofits name arose when his team asked contacts to recommend partners.

We think there is an incredible platform that Clara Lionel Foundation has, with their founder, to bring this type of work into a legibility and visibility for the organizations that will be supported, Moore said. Also, just generally in the society, to help amplify the power of the arts.

Among those grantees is a developmental performance arts program that also provides free social services to students in the nations capital of Bridgetown. Operation Triple Threat founder Janelle Headley said Clara Lionel Foundation helped the nonprofit afford a warehouse outfitted with acoustics panels, sound equipment and a dance floor.

The relationship began with a microgrant for scholarships. Operation Triple Threat now receives general operating support a revolutionary investment, Headley said, because charitable donations are usually earmarked for specific causes. That flexibility proved especially helpful during the pandemic when rapidly changing circumstances created new needs like iPads for remote learning.

Its uncommon, to be honest, to have someone give a sizable donation unrestricted and say, We trust you, your vision, Headley said. That is very forward-thinking of them.

A unique model for celebrity philanthropy

The approach is unique, according to Mary Beth Collins, the executive director of the Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She finds that celebrities typically engage in philanthropy only when necessary.

But Collins said CLF appears to think long-term about its partners and deliberately in its bottom-up funding. The strategies align with her own recommendations to engage expert professionals, address root causes, select focus areas important to founders and lift up leaders living those issues.

We want to see funds and resources from the more endowed people in the world going to those leaders on the ground that really know the place and the experience and the issues best, Collins said.

CLF used that model late last year when it provided additional funding to a clean energy nonprofit partner impacted by Hurricane Helene . Melanie Allen, co-director of The Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice, said they suddenly received around $60,000 to quickly distribute among vetted partners in devastated communities.

The contribution came amid an increasingly hostile environment for nonprofits like hers supporting women of color, which has prompted some philanthropists to reduce giving. Allen said she is excited about CLFs deep commitment to the South going forward.

As others reduce resources, CLF wants to bring more philanthropic partners to the table. Theyre planning a summer convening for grantees to expand networks. The message, CLFs Doherty said, is We will stick with you.

Some people might say times look bleak, Doherty said. But this is a moment of possibility.

The importance of remaining grounded in communities you serve is a lesson Schutt-Aine learned throughout a 25-year global health career.

Most recently the Chief of Equity, Gender and Cultural Diversity at the Pan American Health Organization, Schutt-Aine has treated the worlds deadliest infections of tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS.

If youre going to work on malaria, she said, you need to have lived with the mosquito.

___

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of APs philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy .

纽约（美联社）——蕾哈娜（Rihanna）习惯于挑战传统。

这位九次夺得格莱美奖的艺术家将她的一系列热门歌曲，如《Umbrella》和《Work》，转化为一个估值约14亿美元的商业帝国，让她在去年的《福布斯》杂志“最富有的‘白手起家’美国女性”榜单上名列前茅。这位来自巴巴多斯的女士在2023年超级碗中场秀的独唱表演中宣布了怀孕的消息，震惊了整个娱乐界。她的成功品牌Fenty Beauty以其包容的色号彻底改变了化妆品行业。

但这不是这位昔日巨星如今商业大亨的2016年专辑《Anti》期待已久的续作，而是她的慈善事业。

以蕾哈娜的祖父母命名的克拉拉·莱昂内尔基金会（Clara Lionel Foundation），部分资金来源于蕾哈娜的品派，最近进行了一次“更新”，计划将更多资金投入到气候解决方案和东非、加勒比地区和美国南部等投资不足地区的妇女创业中。经过13年的相对低调，该非营利组织现在正准备获得更多的关注。

我们的创始人是一位来自一个小岛国的女性，她具有全球影响力。她是一位企业家，也是一位母亲，同时也是一个富有创造力的人，执行董事Jessie Schutt-Aine说道。因此，我们希望我们的组织能够反映出这种精神和能量。她大胆且富有雄心，具有创新精神。她总是做与众不同的事情。她是一个改变游戏规则的人。

专家们表示，在著名的慈善家中，像这样有目的性的行为是罕见的。克拉拉·莱昂内尔基金会也因其采纳的“基于信任”的捐赠方式而受到赞誉，这种捐赠方式赋予了受赠者不受限制的资金支持。

NDN Collective创始人尼克·蒂尔森（Nick Tilsen）表示，CLF让他的土著力量建设非营利组织“以我们的方式开展工作”，并表示其他资助者应该做好笔记。

蒂尔森（Tilsen）表示，他们并不像那些总是插手你事务的基金会那样。他们提供支持，他们关注工作，他们允许我们做我们需要做的事情。

克拉拉·莱昂内尔基金会的个人根源

蕾哈娜在2012年祖母因癌症并发症去世后，以516,000美元的捐款启动了该基金会。同年，这位音乐家在巴巴多斯的主要医院建立了一个肿瘤中心，以扩大癌症筛查和治疗。这个年轻的基金会在过去十年中，大部分时间都专注于巴巴多斯的医疗保健事业。

到2019年，CLF开始将应急准备作为优先事项。随着该非营利组织为疫情提供急需的救济并支持种族正义努力，2020年的拨款金额跃升至超过3300万美元。根据纳税申报单，疫情后的支出放缓与其内部转型相吻合。

一个重新组建的团队和细化的优先事项现在与它更广泛的雄心相匹配。一位新任的、在南卡罗来纳州的女性创业发展主任将建设这一支柱的计划。黑人女权主义基金的联合创始人阿米娜·多尔蒂现在负责计划和影响。完善其五个新支柱的包括气候解决方案、艺术和文化、健康获取和公平、以及未来几代人。

25岁的阿什利·拉什利（Ashley Lashley）称赞了关注青年人的行动，她成立的基金会曾与CLF合作，以应对巴巴多斯（Barbados）本地的环境挑战。她表示，她经常听到领导者说“青年是未来”，但这些说法很少转化为实际的支持。

蕾哈娜的基金会就是女性拥有权力后，如何帮助在社区层面开展工作的一个绝佳例子。

蕾哈娜（Rihanna）在接受美联社（The Associated Press）采访时表示，她希望CLF能继续成为“全球慈善领域中包容性力量的代表”。

她在声明中反思了该基金会的13年转变：“如今我们的影响力已扩展至全球，但该基金会对于社区和根源的热爱深深植根于其DNA之中。”

寻找合作伙伴，无论大小

最新的例子是安德鲁·W·梅隆基金会（The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation）的合作。根据梅隆基金会的一份新闻稿，巴巴多斯在非洲裔流离失所者这一更广泛故事中“作为关键一章”的宝贵历史正受到气候变化的威胁。

这两家基金会宣布，他们将共同资助“艺术家引领的举措”，以保护这种文化，并“同时激发国际上的新叙述和机会”。

Schutt-Aine将与Mellon的合作伙伴关系视为CLF的一个里程碑，Mellon是美国艺术领域最大的慈善支持者。Mellon的“Humanities in Place”计划负责人Justin Garrett Moore表示，该非营利组织的名称是在其团队要求联系者推荐合作伙伴时产生的。

我们认为克拉拉·莱昂内尔基金会及其创始人拥有一个令人难以置信的平台，可以使得这种类型的工作变得可见和为即将获得支持的机构增加透明度，并且，更广泛地，在全社会范围内，帮助增强艺术的力量。

在众多受助者中，有一个发展表演艺术项目，该项目还为首都布里奇敦的学生提供免费的社会服务。三重威胁行动（Operation Triple Threat）的创始人Janelle Headley表示，克拉拉·莱昂纳尔基金会（Clara Lionel Foundation）帮助该非营利组织承担了一座仓库的租金，该仓库配备了声学板、音响设备和舞池。

Headley表示，三重威胁行动（Operation Triple Threat）目前获得了常规运营支持，这是一项“革命性”的投资，因为慈善捐赠通常被指定用于特定原因。这种灵活性在疫情期间尤其有用，当时迅速变化的情况催生了新的需求，比如远程学习所需的iPad。

老实说，如果有人能够不受限制地提供一大笔捐赠，并说'我们信任你，你的愿景'，这是非常不常见的。Headley 说道。'这表明他们具有非常前瞻的思维。'

一个独特的名人慈善模式

威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校社区与非营利性研究中心的执行主任玛丽·贝斯·柯林斯认为，这一方法独具一格。她发现，名人通常只在必要时才参与慈善活动。

但柯林斯表示，CLF似乎在合作伙伴关系和自下而上的资金筹集方面都采取了长期视角，并进行了深思熟虑。这些策略与她自己的建议相吻合，即吸引专家和专业人士，解决根本原因，选择对创始人重要的关注领域，并提升那些处理这些问题的领导者。

柯林斯表示，我们希望看到来自世界各地更富有的人的资金和资源流向那些真正了解当地情况、经验和问题的领导人。

去年晚些时候，CLF在为受飓风海伦影响的清洁能源非营利合作伙伴提供额外资金时，使用了该模型。The Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice的联合主任梅兰妮·艾伦表示，他们突然收到了约6万美元，以迅速向受灾社区中经过审核的合作伙伴进行分配。

在这个支持有色女性妇女的非营利组织面临越来越敌对环境之际，她作出了这一贡献，这促使一些慈善家减少捐赠。艾伦表示，她对CLF‘对南方未来的坚定承诺’感到兴奋。

当其他机构减少资源时，CLF希望能够吸引更多的慈善合作伙伴。他们正在计划为受助者举办一次夏季会议，以扩大他们的网络。CLF的Doherty表示，“我们会一直支持你们。”

多尔蒂（Doherty）说：“有些人可能会说，现在形势看起来很严峻，但这是一个充满可能性的时刻。”

在25年的全球卫生职业生涯中，Schutt-Aine学到的一个重要教训就是，要始终保持与所服务社区的联系。

最近，潘美拉卫生组织（Pan American Health Organization）公平、性别与文化多样性部门主管Schutt-Aine已经处理了世界上最致命的感染病——结核病、疟疾和HIV/艾滋病。

她说，如果你想研究疟疾，你就需要与蚊子共同生活。

美联社（Associated Press）对慈善和非营利组织的报道获得了来自Lilly Endowment Inc.的资助，这是通过美联社与The Conversation US的合作实现的。美联社对此内容负全责。欲了解美联社所有关于慈善的报道，请访问https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy。

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