--- --- May 14, 2026 # Shakira Building schools in Colombia by [Harry Booth](https://time.com/author/harry-booth/) ## Harry Booth Booth is a reporter at TIME.  Nicolas Gerardin The “Queen of Latin Music,” Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, has spent nearly 30 years supporting education in her native Colombia through the Barefoot Foundation. Her bet is that it can pave the way for economic development and peace in some of the country’s most neglected regions. In September, construction was completed on the foundation’s latest school, situated in Tibú, where tens of thousands across the surrounding region were displaced in early 2025 by fighting between rival guerrilla groups. “The children of Tibú will be able to begin a new chapter in their lives,” she wrote in an announcement of the school’s completion. Shakira, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2003, has leveraged her platform to rally international aid agencies, local government, and other philanthropists such as Howard Buffett to support her cause. As a result, the Barefoot Foundation mobilized more resources for education than any other civil-society organization in Colombia between 2021 and 2024, according to a [report](https://fundacionexe.org.co/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Sociedad-Civil-e-Inversio%CC%81n-en-Educacio%CC%81n-IMPRIMIR-2.pdf) by local policy nonprofit Fundación Empresarios por la Educación. The foundation points to over 12,000 teachers trained and 19 schools built or renovated since its inception—touching the lives of more than 224,000 children. The schools also provide meals for students as well as psychosocial support for kids and their families. “Together we have proved education brings hope and truly transforms entire communities,” Shakira wrote. TIME100 Philanthropy: Shakira ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-philanthropy/2026/shakira/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-philanthropy/2026/shakira/"},"headline":"Shakira","datePublished":"2026-05-14T12:02:15.251Z","dateModified":"2026-05-14T12:02:15.515Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collection/time100-philanthropy/2026/shakira/","keywords":["list","franchise","Accolades","Magazine","Philanthropy 2026"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaea4b7de0e39bf65/6a049d45500de59800929a56/Photo-19-03-2026-05-32-11.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675%2Coffset-x100.00%2Coffset-y0.00&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Harry Booth","jobTitle":"Booth is a reporter at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/harry-booth/"}],"creator":"Harry Booth","articleSection":"TIME100","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaea4b7de0e39bf65/6a049d45500de59800929a56/Photo-19-03-2026-05-32-11.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675%2Coffset-x100.00%2Coffset-y0.00&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/time100/","name":"TIME100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-philanthropy/2026/shakira/","name":"Shakira"}}]}] ```