Chapter 1

I talked all about finding your money role models, not just in terms of people who have what you want, but showing you that it is safe to be rich. You can be a good person and be wealthy. Let some of my role models show you how:

Dolly Parton

2022: Established the Care More initiative, which allows Dollywood Parks and Resorts employees to take a day off to volunteer at a nonprofit of their choice.
2020: Donated $1 million to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.
2018: Helped open a butterfly garden at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
2017: Donated $1 million to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital.
2016: Awarded college scholarships to high school seniors who lost their homes in the Great Smoky Mountains wildfires and paid six families affected by the fires $1,000 a month each.
2007: Raised and donated $1 million to open the LeConte Medical Center in Sevier County, Tenn.
2000: Established the Dolly Parton Scholarship, awarding five Sevier County high school seniors $15,000 each for college.
1995: Opened the Imagination Library, which now donates over 1 million books each month to 1.3 million participants.

To read more about Dolly’s philanthropy, check out this article.

Oprah Winfrey

2021: Gave a $1 million grant to Teach for America.
2020: Donated $10 million to Americans in need, including $1 million to America’s Food Fund and undisclosed amounts to Minnie’s Food Pantry in Plano, Texas, and the Boys and Girls Club in Kosciusko, Miss., according to a press release.
2019: Pledged $5 million to the organization Pathways to College, which has helped more than 4,000 students go to college across the United States. She also added to her 1989 donation to Moorehouse College, bringing the total to $25 million.
2018: As of January 2018, donated $100,000 to Time’s Up.
2012: Donated $12 million to open the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture.
2007: Opened The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, a boarding school for underprivileged girls in grades 8-12. She spent $140 million over 10 years to keep the institution running. She pays for all the girls’ living expenses, including school uniforms and braces.
2005: Donated $10 million of her own money to help New Orleans residents rebuild their homes after Hurrican Katrina.
1998-2010: Raised $80 million through Oprah’s Angel Network, which ultimately established 60 schools in 13 countries, created scholarships, supported women’s shelters, and built youth centers and homes around the world.