Women History Spotlight: Rihanna Fenty

Recipient of the 2017 Harvard Humanitarian of the Year award, Rihanna is an example of a woman that has made an impact in womens history.

Recipient of the 2017 Harvard Humanitarian of the Year award, Rihanna is an example of a woman that has made an impact in women’s history.

Nicole Rumman, Editor-in-chief

With the start of March, it is also the start of Women’s History Month. Many women, over the years, have contributed to the historical advancements of women, especially Rihanna Fenty.

Rihanna is a singer/songwriter/actress, and has been in the business since she was 16 years old. With a whopping 142 total awards under her belt, Rihanna is a great example of a woman that has made a mark in history.

Recently, she was awarded the Harvard Humanitarian of the Year award for her copious amounts of charity work. She founded two foundations before the age of 20, and along with the Global Partnership for Education has been a part of the Global Citizen Project. In addition, she persuaded Canada to donate $20 million to the Education Cannot Wait fund- which supports terminally ill children.

Along with music, she has a clothing line and multiple partnerships with companies like Puma, Dior, and Samsung. Additionally, she is the global ambassador for the Global Partnership for Education, and has supported a numerous amount of charities.

When she was 17 years old, she started her first charity organization, the Believe Foundation, and after the passing of her grandmother, due to cancer, she founded the Clara Lionel Foundation.

“Our mission is to impact as many lives as possible, but it starts with just one,” said Rihanna in her Harvard Humanitarian of the Year award acceptance speech.

One of Rihanna’s main points in her Harvard acceptance speech was that,  “You don’t have to be rich to be a humanitarian. You don’t have to be rich to help someone, you don’t have to be famous, you don’t even have to be college educated.” Which shows how much she supports women and is paving the way in women’s history.