In a rare break from the usual glitz of the entertainment world, The Hollywood Reporter put philanthropy in the spotlight at its Social Impact Summit, gathering stars and nonprofit leaders to discuss the ways public figures and corporate partners can turn visibility into tangible support.
Held at the DGA Theater in Los Angeles, the event was presented by THR and the Social Impact Fund in connection with the magazine’s annual Philanthropy issue. Gilead Sciences Inc. sponsored the afternoon of awards and conversation, with additional support from Delta Air Lines, Perlman + Perlman, Macy’s, Good360, Charitybuzz, CARE, Peroni and La Crema.
Opening remarks centered on displacement and empathy
Social Impact Fund executive director Craig Cichy opened the summit before The Pitt star Sepideh Moafi delivered remarks that drew on her own family history. Moafi said her parents fled Iran and that she was born in a refugee camp in Germany before the family immigrated to the United States. She recalled that when her parents arrived in Germany by foot, they found the refugee camp doors closed, with people inside forming a human ladder to bring them in and keep them safe.
Sepideh Moafi speaks onstage.
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She contrasted that experience with the current climate in the United States, saying the country is “granting a record-low number of people seeking asylum. Refugees and immigrants are being demonized. Families are being torn apart. Innocent people are being placed in detention centers instead of being given the opportunity to heal from persecution and displacement, and to build a new life,” before adding, “Compassion is not something we need to learn; it’s something we need to remember.”
A conversation about Black men’s health and equity
The program then shifted to a panel titled “Black Equity, Black Excellence: The Power of Purpose,” featuring Karamo Brown, NBA star Baron Davis, WalkGood LA founder Etienne Maurice and Dr. David Malebranche, executive director of Global HIV Medical Affairs at Gilead. The discussion focused on the mental, physical and financial health of Black men.
From left: Karamo Brown, Alphonso David, David Malebranche, Baron Davis and Etienne Maurice.
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Brown stressed the importance of taking ownership of mental health, saying, “For us to get the infrastructures to work we have to change ourselves, and I think that’s the biggest thing for everyone to understand.” Maurice also addressed the challenges facing Black-led organizations, noting that they are often not “getting the support that we need,” and saying that 91 percent of unrestricted funds are directed at white organizations.
John Mayer on veterans’ mental health
The first honor of the day went to John Mayer, who received the Philanthropist of the Year award for the work of his Heart and Armor Foundation, a nonprofit that funds research into post-traumatic stress disorder and other veterans health issues. Chief Warrant Officer 4 Jared Loomis presented the award, and Mayer then joined Heart and Armor executive director Gerard Chocroun for a conversation moderated by news anchor Jamie Yuccas about their 15 years of work supporting military service members.
Mayer said that after meeting veterans living with PTSD and TBI (traumatic brain injury), he realized that the public image of PTSD was “cartoonish, it’s bonkers, and I was blown away by the subtlety of it. I could feel it. I could look into these veterans’ eyes and there wasn’t an ounce of pity, but they’re in there. It’s not the preset to look for help; it is the preset to be self-reliant, and it is the preset to figure it out. But you can only figure it out with the tools you’ve got, and that’s when I realized that there’s got to be a way to at least leave these tools in front of them for them to discover.”
John Mayer
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He added, “I’d never been deployed, I never will be deployed, but I got it,” and said he understood how sensory triggers can bring back painful memories: “I get how somebody could be upset, or the smell of diesel fumes could bring something back. We all have this sense recall we wish we didn’t have.”
The Currys speak virtually about Eat.Learn.Play.
Stephen and Ayesha Curry were recognized as Philanthropists of the Year for their Eat.Learn.Play. Foundation, which they have run in Oakland since 2019. Because their flight was canceled due to storms on the East Coast, they appeared virtually.
Since launching the foundation, the Currys said it has invested more than $100 million in the Oakland community, provided 35 million meals for kids and families experiencing food insecurity, committed $20 million to literacy programs and rebuilt 24 school playgrounds. Speaking with moderator W. Kamau Bell, Stephen Curry said that hearing the numbers read back was “encouraging and slightly depressing at the same time, just knowing how much work needs to be done. We need to tell the story about the work to make sure that the urgency of the need is expressed.”
W. Kamau Bell with a virtual Ayesha and Stephen Curry.
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Ayesha Curry said she is proud of the foundation’s work, but added, “Honestly, most days I just feel angry. I feel angry as a mom. I feel angry as a woman in this community. I feel angry as a human being who used to be a child, understanding that children could have such lack of, here in 2026. Oftentimes it’s learning how to deal with the anger that comes with having to convince people of why they should join in and help,” adding, “It’s so interesting that you have to rally people when we’re talking about children.” Bell, a Bay Area native, also joked with Stephen Curry by asking him to “blink three times if LeBron [James] is coming to the Warriors,” prompting the athlete to put his hands over the camera.
Gilead’s corporate philanthropy is recognized
Laverne Cox next took the stage to present Gilead Sciences Inc. with the Excellence in Corporate Philanthropy award. She praised the company for supporting “critical domestic initiatives ranging from comprehensive youth HIV education to specialized mental health and wellness support for women living with HIV,” and said, “Gilead understands what so many still fail to grasp: that ending an epidemic means treating the whole person. It means breaking down systemic socioeconomic barriers that fuel the HIV epidemic daily.” Keeley Cain Wettan, executive vp and general counsel at Gilead, accepted the honor.
Laverne Cox
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Looking at the city’s safety net
Another panel brought together Motion Picture & Television Fund CEO Bob Beitcher, Women in Film CEO Kirsten Schaffer, YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles president and CEO Victor Dominguez and Emmakate Young, managing director of brand marketing and global sponsorships at Delta Air Lines. Moderated by Alisann Blood, co-head of global brand and music partnerships at UTA, the discussion — “The L.A. Safety Net: Legacy Philanthropy & The Industry’s Essential
Infrastructure” — focused on how Los Angeles can recover after the pandemic, strikes, fires and broader entertainment industry struggles.
Beitcher said MPTF has distributed roughly $20 million to workers in need over the past few years, but warned that with Hollywood production significantly reduced, “we’re seeing members leaving the industry, they’ve given up.” He added, “We all hope that the industry will come roaring back with tax incentives and all those things, and at some point we’re going to find ourselves. Our big concern is [it will be] without enough trained, experienced people to do the work.”
From left: Alisann Blood, Emmakate Young, Bob Beitcher, Kirsten Schaffer and Victor Dominguez speak onstage during the “L.A. Safety Net” panel.
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Harrison Ford salutes Michael J. Fox
To close the summit, Harrison Ford appeared to present the Michael J. Fox Foundation, and its founders Michael J. Fox and Deborah W. Brooks, with the Philanthropic Organization of the Year award. The foundation has become one of the most successful disease-focused nonprofits of the century, funding more than $3 billion in research and helping shape the current scientific landscape for Parkinson’s.
Ford said, “35 years ago, Michael J. Fox got some very bad news. Most people handed something like that endure it; Michael went right to work. Playing Paul Rhoades on Shrinking gave me some understanding of what it means to live with Parkinson’s” — Ford’s character is diagnosed in the Apple TV comedy — “and it also gave me Michael, as an actor, as a friend and the most stubborn optimist I know. Through him, I’ve seen what his foundation does,” including being on track to raise $700 million in research this year alone.
From left: Harrison Ford, Michael J. Fox and Bill Lawrence.
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Fox and Brooks then joined Shrinking creator Bill Lawrence for a conversation. Lawrence said his father and grandfather were diagnosed with Parkinson’s and that what struck him was “how it paralyzed my family when we heard that stuff, and how quickly Mike made the transition from saying, ‘I’m retiring’ to suddenly working harder than anybody I’ve ever met in my life.”
Fox recalled how, after going public with his diagnosis, he would read online comments from patients celebrating the announcement. “I thought, ‘Why would they be celebrating it?’ And I thought because they’ve just been voiceless for so long. It was considered an old person’s disease — put Grandma on the porch and just let her rock until she stops rocking. And in fact, it didn’t have to be that. A lot of people that are young, they have a lot to offer politically and economically, and as athletes and activists.”
Brooks said those early patients “had this real sense of being seen — Michael was out in real life, shedding his vanity and just telling it like it is and living it like it is. And I feel like that combination also was super empowering.” Fox said he remains hopeful that “we can do it” and “we can build a drug that will save people’s lives,” while Lawrence said he believes “I’m going to get to see the end of Parkinson’s in my lifetime” because of the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
