Sweedler: London's "social flower"

Sweedler, 44, is a member of Hillary Clinton's Finance Committee. (Image source: The Telegraph)

She played cards with Bill Clinton, had a strong relationship with Charlize Theron, "opened" with David Cameron, and was intimate with Boris Johnson. She is both a social flower and a philanthropist, and her name is Alisa Swidler.

Politics, family and philanthropy

Two years ago, Alyssa Sweedler took her 12-year-old son, Ash, to the clinton charitable foundation headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas, to visit former U.S. President Bill Clinton. That's when they met Dr. Raj Panjabi, co-founder of Last Mile Health, a charitable organization that provides medical assistance to developing and remote communities. Little Ash asked Dr. Panjabi what he needed most to do charity, and the doctor replied with a first aid kit. "So whenever we're having dinner together or going to a party, we're asking guests to bring first aid kits, not wine or flowers," Sweedler said, "I mean, we don't need more champagne to celebrate, we need to do more charity." Sweedler and Ashe personally transported more than 1,000 first aid kits to remote areas of Liberia, Africa. In the village where they were distributing first aid kits, there was no water or electricity and it took more than 9 hours by car from Monrovia, liberia's capital, to get there. There, Ebola ravaged the entire village, and the first aid kits they brought with them saved lives. "First aid kits are what people need the most, so we barely bring them clothes," Sweedler said.

The reporter interviewed Sweedler at a Georgian mansion in London's Windsor Park, where hundreds of photographs of Alyssa and her family hung on the walls. Alyssa, whose husband is a Hedge Foundation investor, introduced reporters to their 5 children: Nate, Ash, Rosie, Ava and Lily. One of the photos caught the attention of reporters, nate, 15 years old, standing unkempt opposite the bushes, with a marigold ring hanging from his neck, smiling into the camera. "This photo originated from our family's first trip, where we went with an educational foundation to teach English to the Dalit tribes of northern India. Nate was just 9 years old at the time, and he showed the kids magic cards, mingled with them, and at the end of the trip, he also learned some Hindi. Ash is a great traveler, so I always take him with me when I travel. If he's hungry, I'll tell him to eat, and I don't have to worry about it," Sweedler said. Sweedler's attire was typical of the upper class. She wears dazzling diamond jewelry and a ring in the shape of a gold cheetah. Her meticulously groomed hair and smooth skin give the impression of the otherworldly. Sweedler, 44, is a member of Hillary Clinton's Finance Committee and was one of the "international donors" that Donald Trump claimed to control Hillary clinton during his presidential campaign. In addition, she is a member of the Board of Directors of the Royal Albert Hall and the British National Ballet, as well as an advisory board member of Charlize Theron's Africa Outreach Project.

Giving back to society and social return

Sweedler was born in Shuxiangmendi and grew up on Manhattan's West Side. Her mother was a child psychologist, and her father initially taught the humanities in the South Bronx and later became the principal of a school. "Because society treated Chilean workers unfairly at that time, we didn't eat grapes," Sveidler said, "and we never ate veal, and our families were always adhering to some social axioms, such as insisting on denuclearization and calling for civil rights." "Sweedler's younger brother is 9 years younger than her, so she was the only child in the family for a large part of her upbringing, and giving a social conscience was the key to her parents' education of their children." They always taught me to know how to reciprocate. So, even if I don't get any money, I help with mobile kitchens (where food is given to the poor) or shelves at food banks (welfare agencies that distribute food to families in need on a weekly basis).

At the time, I had friends whose parents were working at Lincoln Center (the largest performing arts center in New York City), BAM (Brooklyn School of Music), and other reputable institutions, which opened a window for me to get in touch with and learn about this type of industry and find something that I was really interested in. After attending a liberal arts college in New York State, Sweedler returned to his parents' home and began working as a stipend writer in BAM's activities department. "I was 21 at the time, and the job felt good for me, but I could only pack a limited number of manuscripts in an envelope. When Sweedler came home late at night from the fundraiser, she saw a whole bunch of unsold bread outside a high-end bakery in New York. So she called City Harvest, a group that runs a series of food banks throughout the city. "I told them that the Laba supermarket throws away 700 bread rolls every night," Sweedler said. They replied that they couldn't come and collect it, but if I could bring them the rolls, they would be able to use them to the fullest. I told my father about this, and God bless him, who promised to help me. So I started contacting all the bakeries in the neighborhood, carrying my father's car every night to collect unsold bread. Since then, Sweedler has officially embarked on the road of charity. Later, Sweedler's mother said her father drove through bakeries in Manhattan and the Bronx every night, collecting bread late into the night, which was a lot of work. She advised her daughter to advertise in church or synagogue weekly to seek volunteers. "After the ad was published, a guy replied to an ad in Synagogue Newsweek," Sweedler said, "and he also called to tell me he was a night owl who could drive me around collecting food." I was a little scared at first, but I agreed. After that, he took me to work four nights a week. In this way, we created bread aid and grew it, and today, bread aid is part of the "city harvest".

A year later, the man who had carried her across New York on countless nights, with a dull and silent personality, suddenly told her that he had a huge family fortune behind him and that he wanted Sweedler to be on the board of the fund that belonged to him. It turned out that the man was the heir to Paul Guilden, and he was also the heir to the Bulova jewelry company and the owner of Stetson's hat.) "People often criticize me for never saying 'No', but I really believe in the power of answering 'YES'. Even if it's just a few phone calls or a few emails, you never know what it's going to bring to you, or to the person you've just helped. Sweedler sighed.

The Clintons and the U.S. election

The glass front door of Sweedler's home is plastered with abstract collages of children and Hillary Clinton's campaign posters. Next to the doorbell reads "HillYes!" ”。

In the room, there are also a series of items related to the Clintons, such as a photo of Bill Clinton with his family, in which he smiles and puts his hand on Ash's shoulder; another is of children surrounding Clinton in a harmonious atmosphere. There are also many photos of Sweedler with Hillary, Richard Branson, David Cameron, and Boris Johnson.

Previously, Sweedler organized a number of fundraisers for Hillary. In 2007, Bill Clinton visited the UK and his fundraising organization was founded in Dorchester and Waterloo Vaults. It was during this visit that Sweedler intersected with the Clinton Foundation. Soon after, Sweedler took Ash to Little Rock, Arkansas' capital, for a briefing. Ash believed he was a friend of Bill Clinton's. Ash wanted to be a politician, and Bill had encouraged him. Sweedler recalled that the night she played cards with Clinton in New York, Ashe was hanging out with the well-known singer Ed Sheeran, "Ed was interesting, really covered Ashe," Sweedler said.

Before the reporter left, Sweedler took me on a tour of her magnificent house. It was built in the 1770s as a royal property and was once inhabited by Sir John Aird and the Royal Attendant Edward VII. There are lots of precious photographs and artwork in the room, a ping-pong table in the center of the red carpet in the ballroom and a pinball machine on the living room side. We stopped in front of a photograph of young Bill Clinton when he was young, and Sweedler exclaimed, "Although we are dual citizens, we have lived in London for 15 years, and whenever we come back to the United States, these complicated things come to you." And here, you can adopt an "ostrich policy". But I want everyone who emigrates abroad to have the right to vote. (Note: This article was written before the US election)

The UK edition of the European Times and the British Telegraph are jointly special

This article is written by Alex Preston

Compiled by this newspaper: Zong Wujie

(Editor: Li Na)