Rihanna's foundation invests millions in Barbados

NEW YORK - It is a highly anticipated performance. On Sunday, Rihanna is making her official comeback when she takes the stage at the Super Bowl halftime show.

According to Forbes, Rihanna’s net worth is $1.7 billion. The global superstar is the wealthiest female musician in the world, but she's not only defined by her music.

The Barbados native is also an entrepreneur, and what many may not know is she's also a philanthropist.

"There is nothing more important than saving lives and making lives better because the purpose is better than me," said Rihanna.

In 2012, Rihanna founded the Clara Lionel Foundation, in honor of her grandparents, Clara and Lionel.

The foundation advocates for social and environmental justice projects throughout the U.S. and the Caribbean.

"CLF invests in climate justice initiatives, movements, leaders here in the United States as well as in the Caribbean. We do climate resilience work across the Caribbean, which means we help communities withstand natural disasters. And then we give back to Rihanna's home country of Barbados," said Justine Lucas, Executive Director of the foundation.

In its first year, the foundation invested $1.75 million to supply the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados with its first modern radiotherapy equipment.

"We gave a couple of million dollars worth of equipment to make sure that the oncology center was state of the art for the region, and that was really what kicked off the foundation," says Lucas. 

Since then, the foundation has evolved, doing work in the Caribbean with schools and health clinics, work that is centered around climate resilience. Investing in the infrastructure of health clinics, shelters, and schools to withstand category 5 hurricanes.

Rihanna is also combating the inequalities faced by communities of color.

"Were able to leverage nearly $50 million in giving back around the COVID-19 pandemic and the racial justice work that was happening in after the murder of George Floyd," said Lucas.

When it comes to education, scholarship programs have been set up to help support students from Barbados to pursue their higher education.

For more information and how to help the foundation you can visit to https://claralionelfoundation.org/