OVERVIEW: The Clara Lionel Foundation is a grantmaking public charity founded by Rihanna in 2012 and named for her grandparents, Clara and Lionel Braithwaite. The foundation supports community-led work at the intersection of climate resilience, economic opportunity, health, culture and youth development, with a particular focus on the Caribbean, East Africa and the U.S. South.
IP TAKE: The Clara Lionel Foundation backs community-led work through an equity lens, with a strong focus on the Caribbean, East Africa and the U.S. South. Following a recent strategy refresh, CLF now organizes its giving around five areas linking climate resilience, economic opportunity, health, culture and youth leadership.
This is a high-profile but hard-to-access funder. CLF publishes no open application, LOI process, grant calendar or general eligibility guidelines, and its grantmaking appears to be proactive and relationship-driven. A cold proposal is unlikely to go far.
The strongest prospects are organizations led by women, Indigenous people, Black communities, young people and residents of climate-vulnerable island or rural communities. CLF appears especially interested in groups that cross issue boundaries, such as women-led climate enterprises, resilient healthcare providers and arts organizations building cultural and youth leadership.
The most realistic path in is through a warm introduction from a current grantee, regional intermediary, collaborative funder or community leader. Relevant networks include Caribbean climate and arts groups, women’s entrepreneurship initiatives, Indigenous climate organizations and Haitian-led collaboratives. Local credibility and strategic fit matter more than size.
PROFILE: Established in 2012, the Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF) is a private foundation that Robyn “Rihanna” Fenty created in honor of her grandparents, Clara and Lionel Braithwaite. Best known for songs like “Umbrella,” “Only Girl (in the World),” and “Work,” Rihanna is one of the world’s richest female musicians, according to Forbes. She also created Fenty Beauty and became the first woman of color to sign a deal with LVMH, the French luxury goods giant. Rihanna became a global ambassador for the Global Partnership for Education in 2016.
CLF organizes its grantmaking around five interconnected areas: Climate Solutions, Women’s Entrepreneurship, Arts & Culture, Health Access & Equity and Future Generations. Its recent grants suggest a preference for locally led organizations, trusted intermediaries and groups that connect immediate community needs with longer-term systems change.
Grants for Climate Change and Disaster Relief
Climate Solutions is one of CLF’s largest and most established areas of work. The foundation supports climate adaptation, resilient infrastructure, renewable energy, disaster preparedness, emergency response, biodiversity and community-led environmental solutions.
- It emphasizes communities in the Caribbean and U.S. South that face disproportionate climate risks.
- CLF’s current strategy places particular weight on local and Indigenous expertise.
- Supported work has included resilient health facilities, solar and backup-power systems, water infrastructure, community emergency preparedness and efforts to strengthen local organizations before and after disasters.
- Clara Lionel’s climate grantees include Climate and Clean Energy Equity Fund, Climate Justice Alliance, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, and Girls CARE, “a feminist climate activist movement.” Funding for these groups is often conducted in partnership with Dorsey’s #StartSmall.
The foundation’s Rebuild & Reimagine Fund combines short-term disaster relief with longer-term resilience investments in the Caribbean.
- Current priorities include solar-powered mobile health clinics, off-grid water systems and schools designed to double as hurricane-resistant community shelters. CLF says it deploys this support through trusted local organizations rather than through an open application process.
- Recent climate and environmental grantees have included NDN Collective, Native Renewables, Windward Fund and other organizations working on Indigenous leadership, renewable energy, climate justice and community infrastructure.
Grants for Women and Entrepreneurship
CLF’s Women’s Entrepreneurship program supports women-led economic development, climate-smart businesses and organizations working to remove barriers to women’s financial security. The foundation backs nonprofits, companies, entrepreneurs and broader support ecosystems, although it does not publish a general application process.
- The program focuses on ventures that combine economic opportunity with community benefit.
- Priority areas include agriculture, clean energy, technology, education, construction and businesses rooted in traditional or Indigenous knowledge.
- A central initiative is Gather, an African women-led effort supporting climate-smart companies that increase income and assets for women and girls.
- CLF also highlights its work with Helen’s Daughters, which supports rural women farmers in Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
- Strong prospects in this area are likely to be women-led organizations or enterprises with deep community roots, a credible local leadership structure and a clear connection between women’s economic advancement and climate resilience. Conventional small-business assistance programs without a strong gender, community or climate dimension may be less competitive.
Grants for Arts and Culture
CLF’s Arts & Culture work supports cultural preservation, youth arts development, creative economies and climate-related storytelling. The foundation focuses primarily on artists and cultural institutions in the Caribbean and U.S. South.
- The program aims to help communities preserve cultural heritage, expand opportunities for young artists and strengthen arts organizations as local civic and economic institutions.
- It also supports work that uses culture and narrative to deepen public understanding of climate change and community resilience.
- One of CLF’s most visible current arts initiatives is The Ripple Effect, a partnership with the Mellon Foundation announced in 2025.
- The initiative supports Barbados’ arts ecosystem through Fresh Milk Barbados, Operation Triple Threat and Pinelands Creative Workshop, along with artist fellowships and professional-development opportunities.
- The Ripple Effect does not appear to operate through an open application process. Initial partners were selected through the foundations’ existing arts and philanthropic networks.
- Arts organizations seeking support will likely need a relationship with one of CLF’s current cultural partners, a regional arts intermediary or another funder active in Caribbean cultural work.
Grants for Health Access and Equity
CLF’s Health Access & Equity program supports community-led healthcare systems, rural and mobile health services, climate-resilient medical infrastructure and emergency-response capacity.
- The foundation’s current materials emphasize the Caribbean and U.S. South.
- Its work includes renewable and backup energy for clinics, clean-water systems, mobile healthcare, support for Indigenous and locally led health models and efforts to strengthen regional health networks.
- CLF highlights the development of a solar-powered mobile health clinic in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as its long-standing support for Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados and Health Equity International’s St. Boniface Hospital in Haiti.
- The strongest prospects are likely to be locally rooted healthcare providers and intermediaries serving rural, island, Indigenous or climate-vulnerable populations. Organizations that combine direct care with resilient infrastructure, disaster preparedness or locally led healthcare delivery may be especially well aligned.
- Other health grantees include Health Equity International, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, Project Medishare for Haiti and the Keep a Breast Foundation.
Grants for Education
The Future Generations program supports scholarships, youth leadership, educational opportunity and programs connecting young people with CLF’s broader interests in climate, health, culture and innovation.
- CLF established its Barbados scholarship program in 2015. According to the foundation, the current program may cover up to 85% of tuition for Barbadian students pursuing postsecondary education in fields connected to CLF’s focus areas. The foundation reported selecting three scholars in 2024.
- The foundation has also historically supported schools, youth programs and educational initiatives in the Caribbean and other regions. However, older references to classroom construction, school microgrants and education or health programs in countries such as Malawi and Senegal should be understood as examples of past grantmaking rather than clearly defined current funding programs.
- CLF does not currently publish a scholarship application page, nonprofit education RFP or general eligibility guidelines.
- Additional funding has gone to the TakeAction Minnesota Education Fund, the Regents of the University of California, New York’s Sponsors for Educational Opportunity and the Fund for Public Schools in New York City.
Other Collaborations and Funding Vehicles
CLF occasionally works through donor collaborations and intermediary organizations rather than making grants exclusively through stand-alone programs.
- In 2025, the foundation joined the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in a $1.5 million commitment to Pockets of Hope, a collaborative supporting Haitian-led work in education, food systems, economic security and youth leadership. The effort operates through the Clinton Global Initiative’s Haiti Action Network.
- CLF’s With/Stand campaign raises public support for climate-ready infrastructure across the Caribbean. It is a fundraising and public-engagement initiative, not a grant application program.
- The foundation has also made grants to intermediaries capable of distributing funds, convening organizations or supporting grassroots infrastructure. Recent examples include Global Fund for Women, Windward Fund, NDN Collective and Center for Popular Democracy Action Fund.
Important Grant Details:
CLF’s grantmaking can vary significantly from year to year. IRS-derived records compiled by Instrumentl indicate approximately $3.2 million in grants in 2024 and $4.4 million in 2023, compared with roughly $17.6 million in 2022 and nearly $33 million in 2020. Large emergency-response or collaborative commitments can produce substantial year-to-year swings.
- More than half of this funder’s grantmaking supports undisclosed organizations in the Caribbean, Central America, Africa and Asia. The Caribbean emerges as the foundation’s top geographic focus.
- Grantmaking across all stated funding areas is conducted through an equity lens.
- The Clara Lionel Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals.
- Email general inquiries to the foundation at info@claralionelfoundation.org. Clara Lionel’s phone number is listed as (212) 202-3230.
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