Brandi Carlile and Wife Catherine Raised $300K in 7 Days for Earthquake Relief: 'We Pivot Quickly'

Before they were Grammy darlings, Brandi Carlile and her bandmates Tim and Phil Hanseroth were approached by General Motors in 2008 about using their song "The Story" in an ad for the Olympics.

"We felt really conflicted over GM's relationship with Big Oil and the vehicles being featured in the commercial," Brandi recalls in this week's PEOPLE Women Changing the World issue, on newsstands Friday. "I was getting advice from a lot of other activists and people that I love, like the Indigo Girls, who were like, 'Yeah, we wouldn't do it.' So we said no, and it was a big deal because we were a bunch of broke musicians in our 20s."

Eventually GM circled back to Brandi, 41, and the Hanseroths to see if they'd help rewrite the ad to feature the company's electric cars. They agreed, and with the money they made, they started the Looking Out Foundation (LOF), not just with an eye on the environment, but with the hope of aiding a multitude of humanitarian causes.

"We were interested in so many different areas," says Brandi. "We felt like we could use our youth, our influence, and our money to speak truth to power."

In 2012, Catherine, 42 — whom Brandi first met over the phone in 2009 while she was working for Beatles singer Paul McCartney's charity — came on board as the executive director of LOF.

"When I came on board, I noticed that $2 of every concert ticket that Brandi sells goes directly to the foundation, so the fans form the basis of the foundation just by virtue of the fact that they're going to see Brandi play," Catherine says. "So, for me, my priority was finding a way to engage and galvanize Brandi's fan base, because they're all activists. My first mission really was to take these volunteers on the road and launch campaigns to coincide with Brandi's projects, and her touring, and her albums."

Most recently, Brandi and Catherine launched a campaign to raise funds in the wake of the Feb. 6 earthquake that devastated parts of Syria and Turkey.

Within seven days they were able to raise $300,000 to aid the White Helmets, a volunteer organization of emergency responders, and AKUT Search and Rescue Association, with the Carliles matching the first $100,000 raised.

"Part of our mission is being able to pivot quickly and respond to whatever situation may arise at any given moment," says Catherine. "The average donation was around $50, so it's astounding we were able to make that impact collectively."

Brandi adds: "Because we're small and scrappy, our fans trust us, and they feel very much a part of it. We love our ability to galvanize, pull together and respond."

Next, the pair are focused on Brandi's upcoming inaugural Mothership Weekend festival in Florida in May.

"We have a festival in Mexico called Girls Just Wanna Weekend, and we created that festival to speak to the fact that there's a disparagement in headlining spaces for women in music festivals in the United States," Brandi says. "That festival sells out every year the minute it goes on sale, so it's starting to exclude people because it sells out. It's also excluding people who have monetary restrictions because it's in Mexico. So we wanted to do something like that stateside, not necessarily centered on women, but celebrating matriarchy."

At the festival, Brandi and Catherine will have an "action village" set up to spotlight LGBTQ+ rights, global maternal health and reproductive rights.

"It's going to be really interactive," says Catherine. "Basically, attendees are going to be able to visit these information booths and find out how they can support."

The first few rows of the venue of the festival are also going to be transformed into a large cove they're calling the "Teacher's Lounge."

"We set aside these passes for educators, and there's these upgrade opportunities, and it's a really good view of the gig," Brandi says. "It's our way to thank teachers in Florida who are really struggling with oppressive laws surrounding their curriculum. We just want to throw a party for them and have a spot where they can sit and drink wine."

Adds Catherine: "We've been criticized for LOF's broad reach, but I think that this illustrates just how important it is that LOF is 'agnostic.'"

In everything they do, Brandi and Catherine make sure to get their daughters Evangeline, 8, and Elijah, 4, involved.

"Evangeline has come and volunteered at our booths on the road, Elijah's still a little bit too young, but Evangeline has a lot of interest in the foundation, because she's going to have to do this work too," Catherine says. "She has a lot of compassion and empathy, and a lot of questions. I'm sure as she gets older she'll become more involved. This is part of our family's legacy, and we couldn't be more proud of the foundation."

For more on Brandi Carlile, Catherine Shepherd Carlile and the rest of the 2023 women changing the world, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.