Jean Shafiroff: The First Lady of Philanthropy: A Woman With Great Purpose and Style

By Jermey Murphy

 

Jean Shafiroff moves through a room the way a great aria fills an opera house—gracefully, with intention, and then with great style.  This hardworking   philanthropist, author, and TV host serves on multiple charity boards and has done so for years.  Author of the book, “Successful Philanthropy: How to Make a Life By What You Give”, Jean Shafiroff is often called the “First Lady of Philanthropy ” by both the international and local press because of all that she does in the charitable world.  Each year she chairs between 8 to 10 different charity galas.  She also hosts and underwrites many large cocktail parties in her homes for both local and international charities. Considered an international philanthropic leader for her acumen, generosity, and ability to motivate others, she also possesses a great sense of style.  Jean Shafiroff has the ability to fuse fashion and philanthropy making both subjects most appealing to those she encounters and to those who follow her.

Chairing, underwriting, buying tables, hosting in her homes, ensuring a nonprofit’s message is delivered —this is the cadence of Jean Shafiroff’s days. This year was no different, only more so: she appeared on multiple magazine covers, fresh editorial features both in the United States and then globally and received a steady drumbeat of invitations that reflect the breadth of her civic footprint.

 

If summer in the Hamptons is her marathon, autumn in New York is her sprint. “My philanthropic work is a full-time job, and I love it!  I am most fortunate to be able to do it.”   In mid-October, she was honored by the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation and received the Philanthropist of the Year Award.    This is just one of the many dozens of charities that have honored her over the years. Her leadership and full-time volunteer workload allow her to live up to her title as “First Lady of Philanthropy”   on all accounts, and, in 2022, the New York State Assembly officially named her the “First Lady of Philanthropy.” The title remains. Jean Shafiroff sits on the board of Southampton Hospital Foundation, NY Women’s Foundation, French Heritage Society, The Couture Council of the Museum at FIT, Mission Society of NYC, Casita Maria and Global Strays.  In addition, she serves on the honorary board of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County and Ballet Palm Beach. A Catholic, Jean Shafiroff served on the board of the Jewish Board for 28 years and is now an honorary trustee.  During the pandemic, she served on the board of the American Humane and was their national spokesperson for their “Feed the Hungry- Covid -19 Program”, an initiative that raised $1,000,000.00 to feed 1,00,000 animals in shelters across the United States.

Jean Shafiroff is a great hostess and has literally hosted countless parties for different philanthropic groups in her homes. Just one example is a

a birthday party she recently hosted for Patrick McMullan, the iconic society photographer.  The party on September 15th was held in honor of the ACE Programs for the Homeless of NYC.  Approximately 150- 175 people attended. Jean underwrote it, which means she paid for every aspect of it — as she does for the many charity parties held each year in her homes.   Guests arrived at 6PM and many stayed until mid-night.  Two other parties she hosted and underwrote this fall in her NYC home were ones for the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation on October 6th and Mission Society of NYC on November 7th.  In December, Jean Shafiroff will be hosting and underwriting large parties for the NY Women’s Foundation and then the Viennese Opera Ball -all in her NYC home.

This Fall, Jean served as a chair of the Casita Maria gala and then the   French Heritage Society gala. During this past summer she chaired and hosted multiple events in the Hamptons, NY.  Jean Shafiroff’s schedule is a living calendar, a philanthropic relay with little room for idle laps.

The scope of her philanthropic work continually expands. New York remains home base, but she is slowly transitioning a great deal of her work to Southern Florida, specifically to the Palm Beach area.  Jean is increasingly present in Palm Beach and Jupiter during the winter season. “Our home is actually in Jupiter,” she says. “We have a wonderful home in Admirals Cove, and I love it there.

Pink gown: Wes Gordon for Carolina Herrera

Photo: Fukuda Naoki in Southampton, NY

 

Ask Jean Shafiroff which causes she loves, and she answers without hesitation “helping underserved communities, women’s rights, health care, and animal welfare.”  In addition, she supports the LGBTQ community and the arts. Jean also loves fashion —and has been a great supporter of it with an emphasis on helping emerging and independent designers. In many ways, she treats her support of young fashion designers with the same seriousness as any nonprofit board. “I love the fashion industry … and make a big effort to support the lesser-known fashion brands,” she says. It’s not a hobby; it’s a mission with measurable outcomes: opportunity, exposure, and work for creative people building their names in a tough industry. ”

Her point of entry into fashion-as-philanthropy is telling. In 2010, Jean Shafiroff was asked to join the Couture Council board of the Museum of Fashion Institute of Technology. She began attending fashion shows where she met young designers with genius and talent.  “My first experience with a new designer instead of the big eight,” she recalls, “was when I attended a Victor de Souza fashion show … At that show, there was a beautiful gown that caught my eye. I went backstage, introduced myself, and said, ‘I’d love to buy that gown.’ Victor sold it to me for $3,000. She soon developed a friendship with Victor dE Souza as well as several other designers, always supporting their work.  She purchased gowns from Victor de Souzza repeatedly, and then many gowns from B Michael and Zang Toi.  Often Bill Cunningham photographed her for the New York Times, not just to celebrate her look but to boost the designers and charities she supported as well. “Mr. Cunningham wanted to support not just me as a chairwoman and fashion lover, but the designers and their careers.” She smiles at the memory; it’s a small, perfect case study in how strategic attention can change a designer’s trajectory.

Blue flowered gown: Oscar de la Renta

Photo: Fukuda Naoki in Southampton, NY

 

Jean Shafiroff has long gravitated to Oscar de la Renta, Chanel, and Carolina Herrera, but she’s equally animated by names that are less well known. Malan Breton, Ese Azenabor (“mostly known for her bridal and extremely talented”), Ron Dyce, and Frederick Andersen (“very edgy with strong construction”) are just a few of those names.   She lights up when she speaks about Rousteing’s work at Balmain—“edgy but fresh, new, and wearable”—and she reminds you that “wearable” is not a   code for safe; it means a design that communicates on the body, in motion, in real life.

That, in fact, is the center of her taste: the interplay of fabric, construction, silhouette, and the way a look lives on a person, not a hanger. “I look for fabrics, the construction of the garment, and the fit—how it would fit me,” she says, adding that visualization is the first step. “I’m not 5’11”—I’m about 5’3”—so proportions matter. But I give a taller appearance,” she says, an acknowledgment that the best dress is one that understands its wearer. “When I go into a showroom or boutique, yes, I instinctively know—yes, no, yes, no.”  Being a sample size helps; designers can see their work exactly as they imagined it: crisp lines, proper fall, the intended language of the piece.

Color is her calling card. “I love bright colors … I can’t stop wearing bright pink … now red is very popular … I’ve always enjoyed red,” she says, before veering happily into her affection for blues, yellows, and greens. She avoids dusty tones—muted pinks, washed-out greens—that fight with her complexion. “Yellow is hard to pull off,” I suggest. “You can pull it off; very few people can.”

“I love yellow,” Jean Shafiroff replies laughing. “There are a million different yellows. And if it’s strapless, it’s not right up against the face.” The practical calculus is automatic: she is fluent in the truths of color theory without lapsing into theory. Black makes appearances—she recently bought an all-sequin black gown from Malan Breton “because it’s quite beautiful”— “she says. Purples and lilacs? “Beautiful, too.”

Jean Shafiroff repeats looks unapologetically—an ethos that feels refreshingly modern and, frankly, sustainable. “If you’re wearing couture, you should repeat it—no one else will ever have it. And if Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, can repeat, I certainly can repeat,” she says with a grin. “Designers actually want you to repeat because it shows you purchased it.” Her wardrobe, especially the one-of-a-kind couture, is carefully archived. During the pandemic she hired professionals to catalog the gowns, most of which are housed in Southampton, with significant satellite collections in New York City and Florida. Jean plans to donate the entire collection to a museum one day.  In the meantime, she enjoys wearing them to the numerous charity galas she attends and supports.

There are other stories that have already become part of her personal folklore. Once, on the day of the Metropolitan Opera Gala, she popped into the Oscar de la Renta boutique and fell in love with a massive navy gown— “I literally purchased it on the spot, walked out with it that day, and wore it that night,” she says. She lets a piece “rest” after an appearance and then brings it back seasons later with fresh context.   And then there is the Morocco-themed Stony Brook Southampton Hospital gala this year, where timing nearly collapsed the plan. “A week before I reached out to Victor de Souza … I thought he had heard from me … suddenly it was four or five days before the event. I went into his new showroom at the Emanuel New York boutique on West 39th, stepped into a work-in-progress, did a fitting with two interns—and then I had to leave for Southampton.” On the day of the event, the interns brought the completed gown out on the Long Island Railroad. “They were so lovely and talented.  I gave them very generous tips and lunch” she says.  I will never forget how kind they were to bring it to me.  I envision them as great fashion designers themselves one day.

The through line, always, is the purpose. Fashion is never a mask; it’s a microphone. Jean Shafiroff wears gowns that create glamour and interest — and conversations about the organizations she supports.  She hosts and underwrites parties so that organizations can grow.  There’s a reason her homes are frequent venues for mission-driven gatherings: a private space becomes a public arena:  a glamorous evening becomes an engine for fundraising.  Each event is tied to an outcome—awareness, dollars raised, introductions made, momentum created.

Jean Shafiroff is clear about where the culture is, too. “Today fashion is every size and shape; there is great beauty in diversity,” she says, approvingly acknowledging the broadening of runways and red carpets. This is all so important and needed in our world today!

Jean Shafiroff’s taste is instinctive yet disciplined. She will “step out of the box”—a phrase that could easily be a cliché if not for the way she proves it. She mentions Frederick Andersen again: “very edgy … the construction is very good, and the fabrics are good.” She has her eye on Christian Siriano, too. “I reached out to him a few months ago and then all of a sudden I got so busy that I dropped the ball—but I will go back to him because he’s doing a lot of very interesting things.” That’s how her creative Rolodex is built: showrooms visited, samples tried, relationships nurtured, checks written, careers brought forward.

In addition to all of this, Jean Shafiroff manages to host the TV show “Successful Philanthropy” which airs in the Hamptons on LTV East Hampton many times each week.   The show serves as a platform to give celebrities, politicians, fellow philanthropists and executive directors of different charities to discuss their charitable work — and to help motivate others.

Jean Shafiroff also has a very large social media platform reaching people across the globe.   Her Instagram account @Jeanshafiroff has over 1.2 million followers with the message of philanthropy, fashion and positivity at its core.

Jean Shafiroff’s background in healthcare and finance adds weight to her advocacy. She holds a B.S. in Physical Therapy from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons and began her career treating patients at St. Luke’s Hospital. After a short career as a physical therapist, she returned to Columbia and earned an MBA in finance from the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University and then worked as an investment banker on Wall Street.

If all of this sounds glamorous, it is. But it’s also work—the exacting kind that requires phone calls and emails answered, calendars managed, budgets committed, and a public presence maintained without letting the persona eclipse the purpose. Jean Shafiroff is pragmatic about the demands, particularly in the days leading up to a major event. “If I did not believe in the importance of philanthropy – the need to reduce the divide between those that have and those that do not have, I could never maintain my demanding schedule. I serve a purpose to society and that is a good thing.”

What Jean Shafiroff understands—and what sets her apart in a world crowded with people and events —is that taste can be a tool for public good. Not a substitute for writing checks, not a distraction from the hard work of charging a gala, serving on boards, giving knowledge and expertise, but a tool nonetheless. In a culture quick to dismiss fashion as frivolity, that argument has weight when it arrives, as it does with her, dressed in discipline. She is not merely “supporting” designers with a tag on a post; she is commissioning work, paying for pieces by wearing them to rooms where patrons, editors, donors, and other decision-makers gather. She is, in a word, a patron of the fashion world, a world that employs millions of people around the world.  She is an international philanthropic leader as well.

In a city that measures people by their pace, Jean Shafiroff keeps time like a conductor. The tempo is brisk but never rushed; the crescendos are planned; the rests are rare. She knows that every seat filled, every dress chosen, and every check written to a charity are part of the same composition. And she plays it in full, not just for the beauty of the music but for the good it can do. A philanthropist with great purpose and style, Jean Shafiroff is a great role model for others to follow.