All photographs featured in this report are CLF-funded projects and partners.
Left to right, top row: Ava Rampersad from the Family Planning Association of Trinidad and Tobago, Felipe Leonardo from Profamilia, Kurissa Augistin and Pearleter Felix from Helen’s Daughters, Ashley Lashley from the Ashley Lashley Foundation
Left to right, bottom row: Anderson Langdon and Sonya Alleyne from the Barbados Family Planning Association, Paula Agbowu from Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Rosalind Gittens from Westbury Primary School Keithlin Caroo from Helen’s Daughters
The Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF) was founded in 2012 by Robyn "Rihanna" Fenty in honor of her grandparents, Clara and Lionel Braithwaite. CLF invests in climate justice initiatives in the Caribbean & United States and helps communities prepare for and withstand natural disasters.
Our work is centered around three key programs:
Our goal is for the Caribbean to become the world’s first climate-resilient zone by helping communities prepare for and withstand natural disasters.
We combat climate change’s effects by providing unrestricted grant funding to climate justice organizations led by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.
We support a variety of initiatives in our Founder’s home country of Barbados.
Caribbean Small Island Developing
States are 7 times more likely to be
impacted by natural disasters.1
We invest in emergency preparedness and climate adaptation projects across the Caribbean to reduce the loss of critical social and economic capital.
90% of island energy
projects fail in the
project preparation stage.2
100% of our renewable energy projects reach completion— meaning our partners have access to life-saving power during and after a storm. We do this by providing project management and technical support to our grassroots partners.
Only 2% of global philanthropy
goes to the environment, 3.5% of which
is focused on equity and justice.3
100% of our projects and partners are grassroots-led and prioritize equity and justice. Our grants simultaneously address multiple social inequalities whenever possible.
Intersectionality is the idea that when it comes to thinking about how inequalities persist, categories like gender, race, and class are best understood as overlapping rather than isolated.
Our grantmaking aims to tackle multiple social inequalities whenever possible.
CLF’s goal is for the Caribbean to become the world’s first climate-resilient zone by helping communities prepare for and withstand natural disasters.
To position the Caribbean as a model for emergency preparedness, we focus on improving the critical infrastructure necessary for healthcare services, shelter, and pre and post-disaster crisis communications.
We work with grassroots organizations in the Caribbean from project preparation to project completion, providing technical and project management support every step of the way.
Westbury Primary School was designated as a Category 2 Hurricane Shelter for Barbados, meaning it could be used after the passage of a storm, but lacked the key amenities to be operable during the passage of a storm.
CLF is transforming Westbury into a Category 1 Hurricane Shelter, doubling the shelter’s capacity, by working with local engineers, architects, and project managers on the following improvements:
Once CLF’s work is completed, Westbury Primary School will serve as a critical emergency shelter able to withstand up to a Category 5 hurricane, serving as a model for emergency preparedness. The school is located in the Parish (region) of St. Michael, which is home to over 88,000 Bajans. During a disaster event, the school will provide reliable shelter, water, and power for the surrounding community. After the passage of the storm, the school is expected to be able to resume operations and get students back into the classrooms quickly since the upgrades aim to reduce damage to the infrastructure.
"Working with CLF on this project has proven their commitment to a 360-model to improve the resiliency of the Caribbean. If the roof of a school cannot withstand a hurricane, any other efforts would not lead to a fully resilient project. We fortified the school’s structure with reinforced walls, replaced the timber roof with steel, ensured the school could provide drinkable water, added an emergency generator and alternative solar power, incorporated disability access and emergency exits, all to ensure this school is fully equipped to be a hurricane shelter if and when a storm comes."
— Terrence Sobers
(RIBA, BIA, ARB, BA)
Director, Dursor
Chartered Architects Inc.
In 2022, we created a fund to support transformative, frontline work led by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in order to address the root causes of climate injustices.
We fund BIPOC-led organizations in acknowledgment of their deep understanding of what is necessary to achieve climate justice in their communities.
Instead of restricted giving with strenuous reporting requirements attached, our grants are unrestricted. These unrestricted grants allow our partner climate justice organizations to:
In the inaugural year of the Climate Justice pillar, we committed $15 million to nineteen climate justice organizations* across the U.S. and Caribbean.
Top philanthropies are
giving only 1.3% of their
U.S. climate dollars to the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color-led environmental justice groups
who are doing the most to fight climate change.
Helen’s Daughters works at a grassroots level to provide capacity-development training, mentorship, micro-investment, access to high-value markets, and a structured care-system for rural women farmers in the Caribbean.
Helen’s Daughters works at a grassroots level to provide capacity-development training, mentorship, micro-investment, access to high-value markets, and a structured care-system for rural women farmers in the Caribbean.
In 2022, St. Lucia went through two climate shocks, a national drought in the summer months which dried up the island’s national dam, and then flash floods which caused $7M worth of damages. The CLF x Helen’s Daughters partnership allowed us the flexibility to quickly partner with a local water tank manufacturer to purchase and install ten 1,000 gallon-tanks for farmers in our network. By supplying this water, we prevented two weeks of crop losses (valued at $15k) while also ensuring women farmers did not have to put themselves in danger to collect water from remote, unsafe locations. And because Helen’s Daughters is building resilient communities, not just climate-resilient projects, they provide training on climate-resilient agriculture, financial awareness, and mental health support for farmers in their network.
"Working at the intersection of gender, climate justice,
and agriculture is not typically understood by most funders, it’s either you’re one or the other. For far too long, funders have focused on improving agriculture productivity while negating the external impacts of climate change or gender-based violence that can affect individual farmers. The type of support CLF provides has allowed us to transform the support structures for women in agriculture while also validating our approach, opening doors for us to partner with new regional and global entities, like Hotel Chocolat."
— Keithlin Caroo
Founder & Executive Director
of Helen’s Daughters
CLF Legacy Projects support causes in Rihanna’s home country of Barbados—dating back to the founding of the organization in honor of her grandparents Clara and Lionel Braithwaite.
The Clara Braithwaite Center for Oncology and Nuclear Medicine at Queen Elizabeth Hospital was named after Rihanna’s grandmother who passed away from cancer. Our partnership began with a donation of state of the art radiotherapy medical equipment and has expanded to support climate resilience projects throughout the hospital.
We give micro-grants to primary and secondary schools that allow them to fund key needs, including meal programs, technology, and educational materials that support Bajan youth. Through these grants, we are honored to support the schools Rihanna attended.
We believe in the youth of Barbados, which is why we support performing arts programs while also providing tuition scholarships for students who wish to attend university through the CLF Barbados Scholarship Program.
Operation Triple Threat (OTT) is a developmental performing arts program that trains students to become a ‘triple threat’ – someone who is skilled in each of the three disciplines of singing, dancing, and acting. Through OTT’s training, students are able to excel and compete at internationally recognized standards, bringing artists from Barbados to the world.
OTT utilized CLF’s unrestricted grant to support their general operating expenses, empowering 26 young performers (between the ages of 12 and 21) to participate in
a live production of Fame JR. Between
OTT staff, the creative team, and crew,
the production involved 40+ professionals supporting students in a full-scale production before a live audience, many
of which had not performed live for 3 years due to the pandemic.
CLF’s approach to funding OTT has ensured the show goes on. Over the years, OTT has received interest from donors asking them to create new productions specific to Bajan culture and history. While OTT is proud to foster Bajan talent, they know in order to best prepare their students to be marketable, they need to provide students with the opportunity to perform in globally-recognized productions. CLF trusts OTT’s vision for bringing Bajan talent to the world, which is why our funding is unrestricted. This year, CLF was thrilled to see OTT student Claire LaCorbiniere audition and play a supporting role in "Run This Town" - The Road to Halftime Starts on Rihanna Drive Apple Music trailer. Claire is grateful to OTT because it inspires her to dream bigger, improve her acting, and build friendships in the process.
"We are proud of how Rihanna continues to lift Bajans up through her music, philanthropy, advocacy, and fierce commitment to diversity and inclusion. We are also super proud of our OTT student Claire LaCorbiniere, who auditioned to be part of this monumental project and is one of the trio of girls confidently walking on Rihanna Drive in the video."
— Janelle Headley
Founder
& Creative Director
Since 2012, we have given over $100 million in grants.
Over the course of the decade, we have funded education, health, and climate-related projects from Barbados to Burkina Faso.
We not only funded innovative climate justice and climate resiliency programs around the world–we’re redefining what is possible through strong philanthropic partnerships.
has been disbursed towards supporting justice initiatives across the globe.
Happy 10th anniversary, Clara Lionel Foundation! I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since we planted the seed that is CLF, which has now grown into a trusted organization with remarkable global impact.
I am so proud of the work we have accomplished in partnership with communities and organizations that are equally committed to shifting inaction to action, inequity to equity, and injustice to justice. Through our partnerships, we know that our collective work over the years in health, education, emergency response, and now climate resilience and climate justice movements, will make a lasting impact.
We are forever grateful to be in collaboration with all of you and thank you for celebrating this milestone with us.
With love,
—Robyn Rihanna Fenty
Founder
Thank you to every person that gave to CLF at any level over the past year. We are grateful for every contribution.
Fenty Beauty
Panta Rhea Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
Savage X Fenty
#startsmall
The ELMA Caribbean Foundation
Abeni M
Airyka T
Alexander W
Alison A
Ana R
André G
Andrei K
Andy R
Angela D
AP Studio
Ashley G
Ashley Z
Beauty Positive
Benjamin K
Brian B
Brian D
Brian Daniel S
Buca-Arie M
Celine T
Chaunyce D
Claire W
Claudia D
Crue
Crue W
Crystal T
Damian S
Danielle D
Danny K
David D
David J
Denise G
Dessislava A
Devika N
Dieter W
Edward S
Erika P
Evan J
Eyitemi O
Freddie C
Gabrielle D
Genilaura G
Giovanni C
Glenn S
Greentree
Haydn P
Heather C
Hustle and Clothes
Inderpal G
IRunMe Self Evolution LLC
Israel C
Janet I
Janet M
JaShauna M
Jasmine W
Jérôme B
Jordyn C
Joseph C
Julisa M
Karen L
Katie N
Keely K
Kent B
Khiehhxeh A
Kim C
Kisha B
Korla F
Kristi C
Kyndall R
Latifah D
Laura T
Lia D
Luisa F
Mackenzie G
Marcus Y
Margareta A
Maria Elena M
Melissa B
Michael L
Nadene P
Nadine M
Natalie G
Natalie U
Paul A
Paulette S
Peter P
Piers B
Rachel A
Reno S
Richard A
Richard L
Rickard J
RJ M
Robin G
Roger W
Sahar Z
Shara A
Sharon R
Sierra D
Simbiat O
Sony Music Group
Steven J
Tamira C
Teddy T
Timothy M
Victoria B
Vivy D
Wagner E
Yasmine N
Because this work could not have been done without your support, we invite you to celebrate what we have accomplished by sharing project highlights from this report!
We also appreciate those who’ve helped amplify our message!
Jo Opot
Interim Executive
Director
Krystle Francis
Program Manager: Climate Resilience Initiative
Devika Nohar
Administrative Associate
Ivan Rosales
Chief Financial & Operating Officer
Ashley Zafaranlou
Program Manager
Robyn ‘Rihanna’ Fenty
Founder
Jessie Schutt-Aine
Board Vice President
Jay Brown
Board Member
Monica Fenty
Board Member
Mai Lassiter
Board Member
Tamara Larsen
Board President
Cheryl Alston
Board Member
Kawanna Brown
Board Member
Lukas Haynes
Board Member