*TIME has named Idris Elba and Sabrina Dhowre Elba among the most influential philanthropic leaders in the world, placing the couple on one of two worldwide covers for the magazine’s second-annual TIME100 Philanthropy issue. The co-founders of the Elba Hope Foundation sat down with TIME’s Ayesha Javed for an in-depth conversation covering knife violence, global perceptions of Africa, and their vision for the foundation’s future.
Idris spoke candidly about his campaign for stricter knife laws in the United Kingdom, framing the issue as a reflection of deeper social fractures. “Knife culture is a symptom of other things that are happening in the foundation of communities…We’re losing our neighborhood spirit. We’re a lot more insular. I can’t parent your child, you can’t parent my child. Kids are being fed a lot of hate and division…kids turn to their own devices, and knives are one of those things,” he told TIME.
The actor also addressed his discomfort with the outsized attention his celebrity brings to causes that affect ordinary families every day. “Are we so sycophantic that we only care when a celebrity cares?” he said. It is a question that speaks to his broader frustration with how advocacy and public attention intersect.
When the conversation turned to Africa, Idris pushed back against narratives he finds reductive. “Africa is seen as a place that always needs aid…Interestingly enough, the world needs Africa more than Africa needs the world, because it’s rich in resources,” he said.
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As for the Elba Hope Foundation’s trajectory, he made clear the organization has ambitions beyond traditional charitable work. “I don’t want us to be a charity. I want us to maybe be a think tank…We get called into so many rooms that, technically, we aren’t qualified to speak in—but it turns out, if you care, sometimes that caring in the room makes a lot of change.”
Sabrina brought her own perspective to the conversation, connecting her philanthropic focus on women and girls to a deeply personal place. Reflecting on her mother, she said, “I’m, I think, subconsciously, trying to make the world a better place for the young girl that she was…The most affected person on this planet by a lot of these issues is a woman and a girl, and generally a woman that looks like me.”
The issue also highlights Idris Elba’s longstanding connection to King Charles III through the King’s Trust, the monarch’s youth-focused charity. A spokesperson for King Charles III reflected on that relationship, telling TIME: “It has been such a source of enormous pride and pleasure for His Majesty to see how the young man, first sponsored with a King’s Trust grant, has become the global superstar that is Sir Idris Elba.”
Read the full cover story HERE.
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