In May, partners of the Gates Foundation gathered in Manhattan to announce that the organization would spend $200 billion over the next 20 years and then close its doors in 2045. Supporters, including Michael Bloomberg, were on hand to mark the occasion. The scene, staged at Carnegie Hall, a venue built by one of America’s great 19th century philanthropists, paid tribute to a long tradition of American giving, while pointing to new ways of thinking that are shaping the 21st century.
For those reasons, we include Bloomberg, the U.S.’s single largest recorded donor in 2024, and Mark Suzman, set to lead the next chapter of the Gates Foundation, in our inaugural TIME100 Philanthropy list. We launched the annual TIME100 21 years ago with the belief that individuals have the power to change the world, and in recent years we’ve expanded the franchise into areas poised to significantly shape our future—AI, Climate, Health, and now Philanthropy. In many places, as global institutions are chastened and world governments reverse ambitions, philanthropy is stepping into the void.
This project, representing individuals from 28 countries and assembled by TIME’s reporters, editors, and contributors around the world, was led by Ayesha Javed. “At this pivotal moment, this list tells the stories of how generous donors and leaders of foundations and non-profits are directing funding into the communities that need it most,” Javed says.
In the U.S. in particular, foundations are under increased pressure as the new Administration aims to remove the government from spaces where it previously played a substantial role. TIME100 Philanthropy honorees like Elizabeth Alexander and Nick Allardice are responding. As president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the largest funder of the arts and humanities in the U.S., Alexander says she focused on supporting “multi-vocal, multi-experiential democracy” in America. And Allardice, who leads GiveDirectly—one of the world’s largest providers of unconditional cash transfers to people living in extreme poverty—says he is leaning the organization further into humanitarian work despite a $20 million hit to funding due to USAID cuts. “Cash can be uniquely powerful when all the other supply chains are super disrupted,” Allardice told TIME.
A new generation of donors is doing things their own way. Katherine Lorenz, president of the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation, was instrumental in creating the Giving Pledge Next Generation for descendants of Giving Pledge signatories to help shape their family giving, while Austrian heiress Marlene Engelhorn invited a council of fellow citizens to decide how to give away the bulk of her inheritance. Through their foundation Good Ventures and grantmaker Open Philanthropy, Dustin Moskovitz and Cari Tuna take a data-focused approach to direct funds to causes where they can do the most good. Meanwhile, in January, Stack Overflow co-founder Jeff Atwood announced his mission to give away half his wealth within five years. He next plans to make direct cash payments to residents of poor counties in West Virginia, North Carolina, and Arizona. “It’s not a handout,” he says. “It’s an investment in our fellow Americans.”
Collective giving is on the rise too. The grassroots movement allows individuals to pool resources for greater impact. According to the Johnson Center for Philanthropy, “giving circles” have contributed more than $3.1 billion to social causes since 2017. Hali Lee, founder of the Asian Women Giving Circle and co-founder of the Donors of Color Network, argues the future of philanthropy belongs to community action.
The new leaders in philanthropy, many of whom are accustomed to great success in their own fields, are eager to see impact and see it now. As David Beckham, a longtime UNICEF ambassador, says, “The competitive part of it is, I want to see wins.”
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