Town & Country Hosts Inaugural Philanthropy Summit May 28

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - May 6, 2014) - Town & Country will present the magazine's first-ever Philanthropy Summit at Hearst Tower in New York City on May 28. The Summit gathers the country's most passionate philanthropists and visionary leaders of charitable organizations, including Michael R. Bloomberg, Chelsea Clinton, Hunter Biden, Trudie Styler, Donna Karan, Lauren Bush Lauren and Geoffrey Canada, for a day of thought-provoking discussions on topics including Education, World Hunger, Philanthropy & Technology, Global Responsibility and Medical Research.

The Summit kicks off on the evening of May 27 with a screening of the documentary Generosity of Eye at Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater. Directed by Brad Hall, the film is the very personal tale of actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus discovering how her father's passions for art, justice and education collide in a single act of generosity that will benefit Geoffrey Canada's Harlem Children's Zone. Generosity of Eye is produced by Hall, Louis-Dreyfus and Julie R. Snyder.

On May 28, some of the brightest lights in charitable giving will convene at the Hearst Tower for a series of dynamic panel discussions and workshops. Lunch will be prepared by Bill Telepan, chef/restauranteur and executive chef of Wellness in the Schools, a non-profit organization dedicated to making school food healthier. Following the meal, Jay Fielden will lead a conversation with Chelsea Clinton, focusing on her role as vice chair of the Clinton Family Foundation.

"Philanthropy is an essential part of our readers' lives, and a topic that Town & Country has chronicled for more than a century," Fielden said. "We share stories of individuals and organizations who are redefining what it means to be generous. The innovative leaders who are joining us for the Summit are changing lives as well as the landscape of modern giving."  

"Corporate responsibility and philanthropy are increasingly vital platforms for so many luxury marketers, and consumers are more in-tune with brands' charitable efforts than ever before," said Jennifer Levene Bruno, publisher, chief revenue officer, Town & Country. "We are honored to provide a forum to explore these ideas with such an influential group, who together truly are the future of philanthropy."

The Philanthropy Summit is sponsored by Fidelity Charitable, Cadillac, Harry Winston and Loews Regency Hotel.

Participants include:

• Trudie Styler, co-founder of the Rainforest Fund, a nonprofit foundation in its 25^th year that has funded projects and programs supporting indigenous peoples and traditional populations of the world's rainforests in their efforts to protect their environments and fulfill their human rights;
• Hunter Biden for the World Food Program USA, the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger;
• Donna Karan, designer and founder of the Urban Zen Foundation, which works to raise awareness and inspire change through the integration of Eastern modalities and Western practices in healthcare and education, as well as the preservation of artisan cultures throughout the world;
• Geoffrey Canada, president and CEO of Harlem Children's Zone, a nonprofit organization providing free support in the form of parenting workshops, pre-school programs, three public charter schools and child-oriented health programs for thousands of poverty-stricken children and families living in Harlem to eradicate the cycle of generational poverty;
• John Kluge, Jr., founder of Toilet Hackers, a nonprofit dedicated to providing access to dignified sanitation worldwide;
• Jacob Lief, co-founder and CEO of Ubuntu Education Fund, a grassroots, nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive household stability, health and education services to vulnerable children living in the townships of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, helping them break cycles of poverty and disenfranchisement;
• Grace Garey, co-founder of WATSI, a crowdfunding platform for healthcare that provides a convenient way for individuals to donate directly to those in need of medical attention in developing countries;
• Eric Dawson, co-founder and president of Peace First, a national nonprofit that exists to create the next generation of peacemakers by teaching young people the skills of peacemaking; empowering educators and parents to teach and model these skills and values; and creating social messages that raise expectations for young people to demonstrate compassion and empathy; and
• Dr. Steven T. Rosen, provost and chief scientific officer of City of Hope, a leading research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases.

For full programming details and speaker biographies please visit Philanthropy.townandcountrymag.com. The site will also serve as a resource for individuals to make charitable donations to the organizations participating in the Summit.

About Town & Country
Town & Country (www.townandcountrymag.com) has chronicled American life since 1846, always putting an emphasis on people of style and accomplishment who give something back to the world, whether in service, philanthropy or creative endeavor. It is edited with a feeling for storytelling, combining the highest level of reporting with the very best photography. Town & Country is an acute observer of the broader social landscape, documenting notable weddings and parties, chronicling the pastimes and passions of leading figures and families everywhere, and casting an anthropological eye on the lives of the rich and powerful. The magazine is an irreplaceable guide to the very best that the world has to offer -- a trusted source of privileged information, taste, and unpretentious fun. Town & Country Weddings, established in 2003, is published twice a year. Town & Country is published by Hearst Magazines, a unit of Hearst Corporation, one of the nation's largest diversified media and information companies. With 20 titles in the U.S., Hearst is the leading publisher of monthly magazines in terms of total paid circulation (AAM 2H 2013) and reaches 82 million adults (Fall 2013 MRI gfk). Follow Town & Country on Twitter at @TandCMag.