Black Celebrity Philanthropists Who Support Africa
Liya Kebede
The Liya Kebede Foundation is committed to ensuring that every woman, no matter where she lives, has access to life-saving care. The Ethiopian model, actress, fashion designer, and activist, who is the World Health Organization’s Goodwill Ambassador for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, started her charity in 2008.
“I am so inspired and energized by the dedicated people I meet through the Liya Kebede Foundation,” the model and activist said in a September 2010 interview with Forbes magazine. “My commitment is redoubled every time I meet the people in the field who are working to save lives every day with such small resources. On my last trip to Ethiopia, I met a young health worker. She spends her days giving basic health care to mothers and families on the front lines of community health. While we were there, she walked to a mother in a remote village to help her deliver her baby safely. Before she came, there was no health care in the village. It is stories like these that keep me working.”
