Aside from music and family, one of Alicia Keys’ biggest passions is philanthropy. The Grammy-winning singer has been a longtime supporter of the Keep A Child Alive Foundation and this week she attended the Social Innovation Summit to advocate for AIDS awareness and support.
The Social Innovation Summit is a private, invitation-only forum that explores social transformation across the globe. As one of the event’s panelists, Keys shared why she’s so passionate about her foundation’s mission to provide life-saving AIDS treatment to children and families in Africa.
“You know how things sometimes happen to you and there’s no way to expect it? That’s what happened to me with Keep a Child Alive,” explained Keys. Keys, who co-founded the organization, also shared the story of her first trip to Africa. “I was so thrilled to go to Africa and it was the first time I was exposed to the AIDS epidemic. It really endeared me. I was so motivated to do something.”
Since her eye-opening experience over a decade ago, Keys has stepped up for AIDS awareness in a big way. Each year she hosts the Annual Black Ball to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Keep A Child Alive Foundation.
Watch Keys’ entire presentation at the summit in the video clip below.