A Decade of Doing Good

Ever since the Gilded Age, this magazine has been covering not only the but its more noble pursuits. Often these take the form of philanthropic support for everything from education to the arts to scientific advancement.

- DANIELLE STEIN CHIZZIK

A decade ago-astounded by the often below-the-radar work of some of our favorite talent, and agog at the philanthropic ambitions of an exploding new generation of technocrat and finance billionaires we decided to turn our coverage into a live event. And thus the Town & Country Philanthropy Summit was born.

We set out to build a kind of think tank meant to inform and inspire; we could not have anticipated the sheer number of transformative moments we would bear witness to over the last 10 years. Who can forget Ava DuVernay and the Exonerated Five's wrenching personal accounts of the injustice they suffered? Or the survivors of the Parkland shooting explaining how their trauma begat activism, or Wes Moore and Patrick Kennedy discussing solutions to America's opioid crisis? There have been lighter moments, too, of course: Martha Stewart and Questlove bonding over their love of good food. Matthew McConaughey in a delightfully bohemian tunic talking to us over Zoom at the depths of the pandemic about his work with underserved children. Michael Bloomberg lamenting that, unlike Prince Harry, he had never been on the cover of T&C (three years later, with the 2017 Philanthropy issue, he would get his wish).

To be sure, there are plenty of boldfaced names who pay lip service to giving back.

The revelation here has been the authentic, deep commitment we have seen from so many luminaries and the fact that, for all of them, this work is the best thing money can buy.

Michael Kors BY ERIK MAZA