Rihanna is giving millions of dollars to help Barbados

From music and cosmetics to lingerie and motherhood, Rihanna is clearly a jack of all trades.

However, the singer can add another title of philanthropist to the list after giving millions of dollars to help her home country, Barbados.

She has set up an entire foundation to invest money in the Caribbean island.

London Entertainment/Alamy Stock Photo

Rihanna, whose real name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty, is no stranger to social and community work.

With a global net-worth of $1.7 billion (approximately £1.4 billion), the second-best-selling female music artist of all time clearly still finds time for charity work after having set up a foundation geared towards investing in her home country.

The official website of the foundation explains that the Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF) was founded in 2012 by the Umbrella singer.

It got the name 'Clara Lionel Foundation' in 'honor' of Rihanna's grandparents, Clara and Lionel Braithwaite.

The CLF's slogan puts forward: "A Vision for a Climate-Ready Caribbean."

All about investing money in 'climate justice initiatives', the foundation helps communities 'prepare and withstand' natural disasters.

Clara Lionel Foundation

Not just an entrepreneur, Rihanna has expressed the importance of giving back to wider 'purpose'.

She said: "There is nothing more important than saving lives and making lives better because the purpose is better than me," Fox 13 reports.

In just the first year alone, the foundation invested a massive $1.75 million (approximately £1.45 million) to get modern radiotherapy equipment for the country's Queen Elizabeth hospital.

Justine Lucas, the executive director of the foundation, explained: "We gave a couple of million dollars worth of equipment to make sure that the oncology centre was state of the art for the region, and that was really what kicked off the foundation."

Now going strong for over a decade, the CLF has since been involved in a whole plethora of work on the Caribbean island.

With an ethos of intersectionality running through the very core of the foundation, the CLF outlines inclusivity is the best approach to take.

The CLF invested $1.75 million into Barbados in its first year alone. Credit Clara Lionel Foundation

"We believe intersectional grant-making allows us to redefine what is possible in philanthropy," the foundation says.

Dubbed as 'not just another nonprofit', the CLF break down their work into three main categories: Climate Resilience Initiative, Climate Justice and Legacy Projects.

According to their 2021 annual report, the CLF raised over $80 million (approximately £66 million) in grants leveraged and distributed grants worth $7.5 million (approximately £6.2 million) whilst working in seven different Caribbean countries.

They also had 83 active partners including Black Visions and Movement for Black Lives as part of their action to combat racial inequalities.

Some of their admirable work includes promoting sexual and reproductive rights in the Dominican Republic, rebuilding the Morne Prosper and Paix Bouche schools after Hurricane Maria and funding the Information Saves Lives project.

Rihanna's foundation continues to invest in the infrastructure of hurricane shelters, medical facilities, education centres and political spaces.

The singer is set to make her official comeback this Sunday (12 February) at the Super Bowl halftime show.

Topics: Celebrity, Rihanna

Rhiannon Ingle

Rhiannon Ingle is a Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from the University of Manchester in 2021 in English Literature. Alongside her studies, she was the Lifestyle Editor of The Mancunian, the largest student newspaper in the United Kingdom. Her favourite topics to write about include sex and relationships, bizarre lifestyle trends and all things travel.