Hundreds of guests gathered at the Directors Guild of America headquarters in Los Angeles on Thursday to participate in the 2025 Social Impact Summit: Philanthropy, Power and Purpose. Sean Penn, John Legend and George Lopez were among the speakers and honorees.
The summit brings together the worlds of philanthropy and Hollywood to discuss ideas and recognize changemakers who create a meaningful impact on the world. The Hollywood Reporter and the Social Impact Fund hosted the event.
While the panels covered a range of issues, from maternal health to rights for people with disabilities, the current political situation was never far from anyone’s mind, although Lopez did try to bring some levity to the situation with his keynote address.
“People are OK with the detention center in Florida that they call Alligator Alcatraz. I think that’s heartbreaking,” he said, before joking, “but I also think as a Latino that the fences are there more to protect the alligators because as a Latino, if you let them loose, those alligators will be shoes and belts in an hour.”
He also spoke about the ICE raids that are sowing fear in immigrant communities across the country.
“The terror is real. Everything they’re going through, they’ll remember for the rest of their lives,” Lopez said. “And when you’re a kid being separated from your family, the only thing you should be afraid of is the dark. They’re going to traumatize these people forever, for no other reason than for looking like me. The only crime that those people have committed is to do so much for so little money.”
George Lopez at the Social Impact Summit.
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Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix spoke on the panel “Who Runs the World? Trailblazers in Women’s Health and Wellness,” which explored wellness, mental health, sexual health and Black maternal health.
She detailed the challenges she faced during the birth of her child and how that helped her learn more about maternal mortality in the U.S.
“I gave birth to my daughter two months early, and she spent a month in the NICU, and I had a severe case of preeclampsia. I had no idea about the crisis that we were facing in America and what was going on,” she said. “And when I was doing my research, I saw that it did not discriminate. It didn’t matter that I was an Olympian. It didn’t matter that I was in the best shape of my life. I still found myself in a hospital fighting for my life and my child fighting for hers. And I think that that just shows what a huge issue this is.”
Legend was honored with the Philanthropist of the Year award for his work to advance equity and criminal justice reform.
During his speech, Legend also referenced the current political climate, criticizing the Trump administration for its immigration policies.
“Our government is kidnapping and disappearing our friends and neighbors — our kids’ caregivers in the park — and then occupying our streets to silence the voices of those exercising their constitutional rights (and responsibilities, I might add) to dissent,” Legend said in part. “Our government is stealing from the poorest children in our communities … to line the pockets of the wealthiest. Day after day, our government is abandoning the shared values that have inspired us to become our best: To serve as a beacon for the world, to serve as the hope of the tired, of the tempest-tossed, of all who yearn to breathe free. To say nothing of the corruption and the cruelty and the malice and the seeming impunity. And the arsonists, the ones who ignite and stoke this destructive fire, are the ones we elected. The ones who swore to protect this house, to defend its people, its constitution and the rule of law.”
In his acceptance speech, he spoke about how his family motivated him to keep fighting for justice.
“Redemption is possible; it’s not inevitable, but it is possible with grace. I see my family: Chrissy, Luna, Miles, Esti, Wren — the names that fill my life with faith, hope and love. The Bible says the greatest of these is love. Love has to power everything we do. Everything we fight for and seeing and loving my babies reminds me why I keep fighting for their future, our future.”
Following his speech, Legend’s foundation was awarded $25,000 by Craig Cichy, executive director of the Social Impact Fund.
John Legend speaking onstage at the Social Impact Summit.
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Labor organizing legend Dolores Huerta participated in the panel “Protect the Block: Safeguarding Communities.” She addressed what she saw as the troubled state of America’s democracy and spoke to the direct action she felt citizens must take to protect their freedom.
“All of us becoming organizers and messengers, we can take that responsibility and be very vocal and start spreading messages of support that people need,” Huerta said. “We can really save our democracy because we are in a really crucial moment, a critical moment. We’re losing our democracy. Make sure that the people that we know, our family, our neighbors, our organizations, that everybody is involved. We need everyone.”
Following the panel, she led the audience in a call-and-response session that ended with the crowd chanting, “Si, se puede.”
From left: Social Impact Fund executive director Craig Cichy, Sean Penn, Ann Lee and John Legend at the 2025 THR Social Impact Summit.
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The program ended with CORE co-founders Penn and Ann Lee receiving the honor for Philanthropic Organization of the Year.
Penn shared his philosophy, which drove his desire to help in regions ranging from Haiti after the island’s devastating 2010 earthquake to his current work rebuilding Los Angeles following the Palisades and Eaton fires.
“I think often about the people who work with us, and they’re humanitarians,” he said. “I feel much more like a plumber. I don’t really want to talk to babies or sick children or their parents, just tell me what’s broken and we’ll see if I can help fix it.”
He was also candid about what his organization needed to continue thriving in the future, particularly in light of recent federal government funding cuts.
“We God damn well need money. And then if you want to volunteer or offer a skill set of support in some other way to us, we’ll God damn well take that,” he said. “When we get money, and I think it’s our strength, I think we’re really good at casting from those communities, people who are leaders already or can be built into leaders. We spend money, I think, very well.”
In addition to presenting sponsor Gilead, the event was sponsored by Public Interest Registry, Heineken, Open Water and Bulleit Frontier Whiskey.
Maer Roshan, John Legend and Shirley Halperin at the 2025 Social Impact Summit.
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