Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF) is expanding its focus to tackle climate change and support women entrepreneurs. The foundation, named after Rihanna’s grandparents, was started in 2012 with a $516,000 donation from the singer after her grandmother died from cancer. Since then, CLF has grown significantly.
In 2020, it gave over $33 million in grants for pandemic relief and racial justice efforts. Now, the foundation is entering a new phase with a broader mission. “Our founder is a woman from a small island nation who’s got global reach,” said Jessie Schutt-Aine, CLF’s executive director.
“She’s an entrepreneur. She’s a mom.
Women entrepreneurs and climate action
She’s a creative. We want an organization that reflects that spirit and that energy.”
The foundation’s five main areas of focus are now climate solutions, arts and culture, health access and equity, women’s entrepreneurship, and future generations. CLF has hired new directors to lead its work on women’s entrepreneurship and to oversee programs and impact.
One notable partnership is with The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Together, they will fund artist-led initiatives to preserve Barbados’ cultural heritage, which is at risk from climate change.
Justin Garrett Moore, a director at the Mellon Foundation, said CLF’s platform can bring visibility and support to the arts. CLF has been praised for its “trust-based” approach to giving, which provides unrestricted funding to recipients. Nick Tilsen, founder of the Indigenous power-building nonprofit NDN Collective, said this allows his organization to “do the work on our terms.”
Ashley Lashley, a 25-year-old whose foundation has worked with CLF on environmental issues in Barbados, said Rihanna’s work shows “how women in power can help contribute to work that is being done at the community level.”
Rihanna herself said she hopes CLF will continue to promote “global inclusion in philanthropy.” She added, “Today we have global reach, but that notion of love for community and for our roots runs deep in the DNA of the foundation.”
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