--- description: Find out why Petra Nemcova is on the TIME100 Most Influential People in Philanthropy 2025 list. title: TIME100 Philanthropy: Petra Nemcova image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22b18064ef788804/6998c6c193610cd858c2fa4b/T100PHIL-Trail-Petra-Nemcova.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- May 20, 2025 # Petra Nemcova Rebuilding after natural disasters by [Harry Booth](/author/harry-booth/) ## Harry Booth Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Booth is a reporter at TIME.  Dave Benett—Getty Images Supermodel Petra Nemcova’s idyllic holiday was violently shattered on Dec. 26, 2004, when the deadliest tsunami in history tore through her Thai bungalow, leaving her clinging to a palm tree for survival. She was rescued after eight hours but among the nearly 230,000 people whose lives were taken by the disaster was her partner, photographer Simon Atlee. For Nemcova, the tragedy marked the beginning of a lifelong commitment to help survivors of natural disasters. The next year, she founded the Happy Hearts Fund, which works to accelerate the rebuilding of safe schools and homes after disasters—often, as Nemcova learned, children have to wait years to resume their education, which can have a rippling impact across generations. Now called All Hands and Hearts after merging with another organization in 2017, the nonprofit aims not just to restore infrastructure but also hope to communities struggling to recover. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Nemcova’s nonprofit has helped rebuild 365 schools in 29 countries, enabling over 123,000 children to return to their education. This past year alone, with Nemcova as board vice chair, the organization aided in recovery efforts after the Los Angeles wildfires and hurricanes Helene and Milton, while supporting Ukrainian refugee children in Poland with temporary learning facilities. TIME100 Philanthropy: Petra Nemcova ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-philanthropy-2025/7286062/petra-nemcova/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-philanthropy-2025/7286062/petra-nemcova/"},"headline":"Petra Nemcova","datePublished":"2025-05-20T11:31:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:48:53.163Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-philanthropy-2025/7286062/petra-nemcova/","keywords":["list","franchise"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22b18064ef788804/6998c6c193610cd858c2fa4b/T100PHIL-Trail-Petra-Nemcova.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&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":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22b18064ef788804/6998c6c193610cd858c2fa4b/T100PHIL-Trail-Petra-Nemcova.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&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":"https://time.com/collections/time100-philanthropy-2025/7286062/petra-nemcova/","name":"Petra Nemcova"}}]}] ```