How the World’s Wealthiest Women Pay It Forward

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How the World’s Wealthiest Women Pay It Forward

Celebrities such as Angelina Jolie and Madonna are putting their well-earned money to good use and helping to make the world a better place. Scroll down to see how the world’s wealthiest women pay it forward to certain charities.

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How the World’s Wealthiest Women Pay It Forward

Celebrities such as Angelina Jolie and Madonna are putting their well-earned money to good use and helping to make the world a better place. Scroll down to see how the world’s wealthiest women pay it forward to certain charities.

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J.K. Rowling

The Harry Potter author founded Lumos, a charity that helps millions of disadvantaged children in orphanages around the world. A Lumos goal is that by 2050, no more children will be living in institutions, but with families.

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Madonna

Madonna created Raising Malawi in 2006 to support “orphans and vulnerable children in Malawi through health, education and community support.” The charity has partnered with another nonprofit to refurbish 10 primary schools that serve more than 4,000 children in Malawi. The “Material Girl” singer, 61, also once donated a Fernand Legér painting from her private collection that sold for $7.2 million to benefit her Ray of Light Foundation.

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Diane von Furstenberg

Fashion designer von Furstenberg has been creating iconic “wrap dresses” since the ’70s, but now her efforts are on philanthropy, women’s issues and improving communities. The Diller–von Furstenberg Family Foundation she co-founded gives annual DVF Awards to women to further their work in their communities by giving them $50,000 grants.

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Whoopi Goldberg

Named UNICEF’s Goodwill Ambassador in 2003, Goldberg has used her fame to bring awareness to countless causes including HIV/AIDS, health care and substance abuse. She continues to promote UNICEF’s work to help children and their communities around the world affected by HIV/AIDS. Though one of her smaller donations, the generous Sister Act star made headlines by giving $10,000 in donations to a group of Harlem, N.Y., nuns, one of whom was a Goldberg look-alike dubbed her doppelgänger “sister.”

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Angelina Jolie

Jolie’s work with the U.N. Refugee Agency began after she filmed Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in Cambodia in 2001, where she witnessed the horrific living conditions of refugees there. Since then, she’s been prolific in her efforts to help those in need and has made more than 40 field missions around the world, including to war-torn countries.