Olivia Rodrigo's festival is uniting women and girls behind nonprofits
promoting their well-being
[August 31, 2026]
By JAMES POLLARD
Evoking the same do-it-yourself pop-rock feminism of her '90s musical
influences, Olivia Rodrigo raised $20 million for women's well-being
with a benefit show that activated her young audience.
Daisy Chain Fields united a women-led lineup boasting queer pop star
Chappell Roan, breakout rapper Doechii and riot grrrl pioneers Bikini
Kill behind issues of women's health, workplace protections and legal
rights. Ahead of Saturday's festival in Irvine, California, Rodrigo
announced the show had already raised enough to make a $10 million
donation to 10 nonprofit partners including Planned Parenthood, National
Women's Law Center and Black Mamas Matter Alliance.
Philanthropist Melinda French Gates pledged another $10 million through
her Pivotal Ventures in a surprise appearance at the start of Rodrigo's
set, praising her for "showing a new generation how much their voices
matter."
Rodrigo said the festival's artists and activists give her hope despite
the “regression of women's rights” today.
“That's actually why I fell in love with the name ‘Daisy Chain,'” she
said Friday. "It served as a reminder of how individual parts can come
together to create something strong and unbreakable."
Rodrigo, 23, has made a name channeling the rage and dissatisfaction of
modern romance into chart-topping songs that are equal parts Taylor
Swift and Alanis Morissette. Now, she looks to bridge the gap between
Gen Z and nonprofits, which have struggled to build relationships with
younger donors who tend to prefer informal ways of giving.
The connection is not lost on Daisy Chain Fields attendees.
“People don’t join together and mobilize unless they feel connected to
the group that is mobilizing," said Grace Slevin, 24. "What’s better
than music?”
All-star benefit concerts have proven popular for driving millions of
dollars toward everything from refugee relief to pandemic response. But
it's been decades since a young artist with Rodrigo's following brought
her peers together for gender justice.
That focus comes as President Donald Trump attempts to overhaul family
planning grants that reproductive health clinics use to provide birth
control and treat sexually transmitted infections. His administration
paused $27.5 million last year for such organizations, including some
Planned Parenthood affiliates, before officials agreed to restore the
money.
For Slevin, an Orange County, California, resident who does
anti-sex-trafficking advocacy, Daisy Chain Fields embodies the sentiment
of “be who you needed when you were younger." She loves that attendees
are welcome to learn about the beneficiaries' work in addition to
donating.
Nonprofit partners engaged with fans in Daisy Chain Fields'
“philanthropy village.” Festivalgoers collected pins from booths as they
learned about health services from Planned Parenthood or pay tribute to
caregivers through the National Domestic Workers Alliance.
An art installation by the Guerilla Girls, anonymous artist activists,
invited fans to air their grievances on chalkboards. Handwritten
responses included “PROTECT QUEER KIDS!” and “Put women in charge and
pay us more!!!” as well as “ICE OUT!” and “ABORTION RIGHTS 4 ALL.”
Younger generations expect a level of authenticity beyond a
“pseudo-sort-of-progressiveness,” Slevin said.
“They can see just how deeply intertwined the music is with the cause,"
she said. "It’s not just, like, a second thought.”
Do you get déjà vu? Rodrigo's effort recalls '90s feminist push
Rodrigo took inspiration from Lilith Fair, the all-women festival that
raised $10 million for charity from 1997 to 1999. Sarah McLachlan, who
founded the show to dispel the music industry’s notion they couldn't
book women consecutively, performed with Rodrigo Saturday.
Planned Parenthood National Director of Arts and Entertainment Caren
Spruch recalled working on Lilith Fair, adding that concert outreach is
an important tool to reach people "where they are.”
That culture-shifting work grows more important during times like this,
she acknowledged, when abortion clinics are closing in restrictive
states and anti-abortion groups are pushing the courts to limit access
to drugs most commonly used in abortion.
Rodrigo, Spruch said, talks about those topics with “no shame or
stigma.” As she did with other nonprofits, the three-time Grammy winner
appeared in informational videos on Planned Parenthood's social media.
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Audience members watch Olivia Rodrigo perform with special guest
Sarah McLachlan at the Daisy Chain Fields Music Festival on
Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026, at Great Park in Irvine, Calif. (AP
Photo/Chris Pizzello)
 “All of that does so much to help us
normalize the whole range of reproductive health and rights," Spruch
said.
Intergenerational change
Melissa Shaw, 33, drove to the festival from Tucson, Arizona, with
her 8-year-old daughter.
They didn't plan to spend the day camped out for close-up views.
Shaw wanted to let her daughter ask questions as they explored the
nonprofits and visited art installations. She appreciates that
Rodrigo is not only promoting well-known organizations such as
Planned Parenthood, but also groups focused specifically on Black
maternal health or baby formula access.
“It’s really important for me as a parent to expose my daughter to
celebrities who set that example," Shaw said.
To her, the lineup seemed intentionally curated to attract multiple
generations. Her daughter loves Rodrigo and Roan, and she herself
grew up listening to Bikini Kill and fellow performer Santigold. She
saw many mother-daughter duos sharing their festival plans online.
The festival's nonprofit partners were eager to join that
multigenerational community of women, too.
“At a time when decisions about our bodies, our health, our safety
and our futures are being made for us not by us, a day built around
care and community is its own kind of statement,” FreeFrom founder
Sonya Passi said in a statement.
National Domestic Workers Alliance President Ai-jen Poo said the
festival's joyful atmosphere serves as a “powerful reminder to women
everywhere of all ages that, no matter what, we have each other.”
Her organization works to ensure federal workplace protections for
domestic workers, who are disproportionately women and immigrant
women. She wants to recruit more young people, many of whom she said
are worried they can't afford to take care of their loved ones or
start families.
“The only way change happens is through intergenerational connection
and movements in our country," she said. "This generation of young
people has the opportunity to really change how we support
caregiving for future generations.”
Philanthropy takes center stage
Organizers vowed to work with nonprofit partners to put the grants
toward their most urgent and underresourced needs.
Newer nonprofits also appreciated the opportunity to expand their
networks. Black Mamas Matter Alliance co-founder Angela Doyinsola
Aina said the nonprofit, just 10 years old, reached people who
wouldn't have otherwise encountered their work on Black maternal
health.
For the National Women's Law Center, the gift offers flexibility to
plug their own budgetary holes as they litigate sex discrimination
cases. Uma Iyer, the nonprofit's chief external affairs officer,
said the support also boosted staff morale.
“We work on really hard things every day,” she said. “It was really
energizing for us and it’s been really uplifting.”
Including both everyday audiences and front-line workers in benefits
is key, according to Farm Aid co-executive director Jennifer Fahy.
The annual fundraising concerts — launched by Willie Nelson, Neil
Young and John Mellencamp to raise awareness of family farmers'
challenges —- celebrated their 40th anniversary last year.
“It’s just wonderful to see an artist of that generation, that new
young generation, who is embracing that opportunity that exists to
do these kinds of events, to share the stage and microphone to
highlight issues that are important to the artist," Fahy said.
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Associated Press newsperson Abby Lee contributed from Irvine,
California.
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