Remarkable People

Is this your profile? Click here to recommend more solutions or organizations.

Oprah Winfrey

An American television host, actress, producer, and philanthropist, best known for her self-titled, multi-award winning talk show

She has been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century, the greatest black philanthropist in American history, and was once the world's only black billionaire. She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world.

Credited with creating a more intimate confessional form of media communication, she is thought to have popularized and revolutionized the tabloid talk show genre. By the mid-1990s, she had reinvented the Oprah Winfrey Show with a focus on literature, self-improvement, and spirituality. She is often praised for overcoming adversity to become a benefactor to others.

In 1998, Winfrey created the Oprah's Angel Network, a charity that supported charitable projects and provided grants to non-profit organizations around the world. Oprah's Angel Network raised more than $80,000,000. Winfrey personally covered all administrative costs associated with the charity, so 100% of all funds raised went to charity programs.

Winfrey's show raises money through promotion of her public charity and she personally donates more of her own money to charity than any other show-business celebrity in America. In 2005 she became the first black person listed by Business Week as one of America's 50 most generous philanthropists, having given an estimated $303 million.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Oprah created the Oprah Angel Network Katrina registry which raised more than $11 million for relief efforts. Winfrey personally gave $10 million to the cause. Homes were built in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama before the one year anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Winfrey has also helped 250 African-American men continue or complete their education at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.

Winfrey was the recipient of the first Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the 2002 Emmy Awards for services to television and film.

(Profile information sourced from Wikipedia and other publicly available internet sources.)

Oprah Winfrey on the web

Website: Official Website
Wikipedia: Oprah Wingrey

My Recommended Businesses and Solutions, Products, Services

Oprah's Angel Network

110 North Carpenter, Chicago, IL 60607

p: (312) 633-1000

Web

Oprah's Angel Network

Organization

Our History

In a 1997 episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show”, Oprah invited viewers to join her in using their lives to improve the lives of others. What began as a campaign to encourage viewers to collect spare change evolved into the charity known as Oprah’s Angel Network.

Through generous support from donors, the Angel Network has been able to award funds to hundreds of organizations throughout the United States and in more than 30 countries around the world, helping numerous individuals by improving access to education, protecting basic rights and so much more.

Our Accomplishments

Here are a few examples of the work accomplished by the Angel Network:

With Free The Children, Oprah’s Angel Network built more than 55 schools in 12 countries, providing education for thousands of children in rural areas throughout the world. Read about two schools that were built in rural China.

In 2005, Oprah’s Angel Network provided more than $1 million worth of school supplies, including school uniforms and shoes, to 18,000 impoverished South African children.

As part of the Hurricane Katrina and Rita recovery efforts, the Network helped more than 1,000 families get back into their homes and helped build or restore more than 400 homes in eight communities across Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. Learn more about the Angel Network’s Gulf Coast rebuilding efforts.

Oprah’s Angel Network built the Seven Fountains Primary School in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Opened in 2007, the school serves more than 1,000 boys and girls and serves as a model for teaching and learning throughout Africa.

O Ambassadors, a joint project of Oprah’s Angel Network and Free The Children, inspired young people in the United States and Canada to become responsible global citizens.

Through Oprah’s Book Club Awards, Oprah’s Angel Network provided books for under-resourced children in regions where a book club selection is set. For example, book club awards were distributed in Beijing, China for “The Good Earth” by Pearl S. Buck and in St. Petersburg, Russia for “Anna Karenina” by Leo Tolstoy.

Inspired by “O, The Oprah Magazine’s” “Rescuing the World’s Girls” and “Live Your Best Life Tour” events, the Angel Network gave grants to organizations that provide life-changing assistance for women and girls.

Oprah’s Angel Network introduced the Use Your Life Award on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in 2000. From 2000 through 2003, more than 50 organizations that were making a difference in the lives of others received awards.