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Katy Murphy Davis
Senior Supervising Producer—started at Harpo in 1992.
Just before our summer break in 1997, Oprah talked about her vision for the upcoming season: "I want to use this show to help people make a difference in the world by extending kindness to others." After weeks of thinking about this, I woke up one morning with an idea: Oprah's Angel Network.
One season we encouraged viewers to collect their loose change and donate it to the Angel Network, which would give 50 students $25,000 each to attend college. An 11-year-old boy named Paul, the son of a single mom, had been socking away coins for nine years to pay for a trip to Disney World. When Paul saw our Angel Network show, he decided to donate his life savings to the college students. On the show's 1998 season finale, Paul stood palm in palm with Oprah, tears streaming down his face as he explained what moved him to give up his piggy bank. There wasn't a dry eye in Harpo's control room! After the boy handed over his gift, we surprised him with one of our own—a dream trip to the Magic Kingdom.
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