Barbra Streisand Says She Loves to 'Have a Purpose Bigger Than Myself' as She Talks Philanthropy

Barbra Streisand enjoys giving back.

In a PEOPLE exclusive clip of Streisand's interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, the singer opened up about her contributions to increasing gender equality and donating to organizations she cares about.

"Isn't it great for women now?" Streisand, 79, says in the clip, which is part of an interviewing coming Wednesday. "Getting better," responds Lowe.

"Oh my God. I mean, I started off with I'm leaving centers at UCLA and the one I started in 1984, my first contribution to doing something about education, it was at USC," she said. (The Chair of Contemporary Gender Studies at USC is named after Streisand.) "Men and women in society, in a changing world, the dynamics. I'm finally getting it at UCLA. Nobody studied it, but now it's changed."

"That was in 1984. Whenever I made money, I wanted to give it away. I keep some for myself, but do something like my father intended about education," she adds. At UCLA, the Women's Heart Health Program, which aims to provide education for women with or at risk of heart disease, is named after the singer. Streisand's larger Women's Heart Center is at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Apple Music

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Looking back at those philanthropic endeavors related to gender equality, Streisand explained that her next contribution will be to combat climate change, specifically to the Environmental Defense Fund, which she has donated to in the past. In 1989, she gifted a $250,000 grant to the fund allowing scientist Michael Oppenheimer to study climate change.

"I love to have a purpose that's bigger than myself," she says in the clip. "It's not about financially making myself richer."

In June, Streisand dropped a duet with Willie Nelson titled 'I'd Want It to Be You' as she announced the release of her album Release Me 2.

"For me, the studio is a combination musical playground and laboratory… a private sanctuary, where the possibility of catching lightning in a bottle always exists," Streisand wrote in the album's notes. "Whenever that kind of magic happens, it's extremely satisfying. Sometimes though, when the arrangement doesn't quite gel or the song no longer fits the tone of the album it was meant for, the tapes go into the vault for safekeeping."

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"Working on this 2nd volume of Release Me has been a lovely walk down memory lane," she added. "A chance to revisit, and in some cases, add a finishing instrumental touch to songs that still resonate for me in meaningful ways."

Also in June, Streisand's husband James Brolin opened up to The Talk about how the couple's relationship is stronger than ever.

"I like women who say their piece, and I'm a calming factor, and she gets me up and doing things I wouldn't normally accomplish. It's like a perfect situation, the two of us," he told co-host Sheryl Underwood.

"We, for a long time, were put out by COVID. And a lot of people, their marriages haven't gone well during these 15 months," he continued. "We've literally fallen in love over this period of time, just being stuck together every day and making it work."

Continuing, he added, "Neither one of us have ever gone out the door [after] an argument and we are good at talking things out. And 23 years is better than ever, I must say."

Streisand's interview airs Wednesday at 1 p.m. EST on Apple Music 1.