Donna Karan is passionate about the world around her. When she gets behind a cause, she gives it her all, and then some.

For all those who have known Donna for years, this has been at the core of who she is. Passion is what drives her forward, and having just turned 70, she is more vocal about what is important to her than ever.

Yes, there are still the usual Donna-isms that pepper her speech – “It’s not about the me, it’s about the we,” “We need to put the care back into healthcare,” and “Dressing and addressing”  being the most recurring ones – yet there is so much more. Over the years, I have spent much time with Donna, who never fails to amaze and inspire. On this occasion, I especially notice her renewed sense of purpose to create change.

“Each one of us has experienced our own personal chaos,” she told me. “But never before in my lifetime have I seen a world more divided, unsettled, angry, feared, and uncertain than today. We feel anxious about the present and we worry about our future, the future of our children and grandchildren. There is chaos all around us.”

Which leads to more thoughts and concepts that keep Karan’s drive alive:  the search for the calm within the chaos and connecting the dots, just like her late husband Stephan Weiss did through his painting and sculpture.

“When I started Urban Zen I wanted to create a community where we all come together to discuss the issues at hand and deliver the solutions,” she said. “It’s about the preservation of cultures, which is the past; the care in healthcare, the future, and education, which is all about the future.

“Create, collaborate, communicate, and be a catalyst for change,” she added. “I am all about the C-words, not just cotton and cashmere.”

It’s been quite a journey for Karan to get to this stage, but in so many ways, she was – and still is – a step ahead of the curve.  No longer at the helm of her namesake label, she is now fully devoting herself to the Urban Zen Foundation, the Urban Zen brand, and the philanthropic causes important to her.

She is indeed seeking solutions. She always has been. Her seven easy pieces empowered women. She made a political statement in 1993, when she imagined a world led by a female American president. She was instrumental, with Anna Wintour and then-CFDA President Carolyne Roehm, in galvanizing the fashion industry in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and launched Super Saturday with Liz Tilberis to benefit  ovarian cancer. More recently, she brought conscious commerce to Urban Zen, tapping into the mindset of the future consumer who is looking to make purchases with meaning.

Then, there is the Urban Zen Integrative Therapy program.

“Before he passed away, Stephan said to me, ‘Donna, whatever you do, take care of the nurses,’” she recalled. “As he battled with cancer, he saw how busy the nurses were. How they took care of their patients. How they took care of him. But who was helping the nurses? Stephan knew that they couldn’t care for anybody unless they took care of themselves. I made a promise to Stephan to take care of patients’ nurses and their loves ones.”

Philanthropy and humanitarianism are at the core of Karan’s annual Apple Awards, which took place at Urban Zen last month and honored photographer Jimmy Nelson, Parsons’ head Joel Towers, and Iman, who is “not only a model for fashion, but for women of the world.”

Each honoree touches her in unique ways, but she connects with Iman on a personal level.

“She’s used her voice for good. She’s been an activist for kids, for global health, and especially fighting AIDS in Africa,” Karan explained. “When her husband David died, the entire world mourned. But nobody knew how Iman felt. She handled his passing and the mourning so intimately. It’s the kind of loss you never fully recover from. I know what it’s like to lose the man of your dreams. David will never truly leave her. And she will never leave him. Just like Stephan and me.”

The Apple Awards were memorable,  and so, it appears, was her 70^th birthday, though on a  more private scale. Karan brought her best girlfriends – all 30 of them – together at her Central Park West digs. While she wouldn’t discuss too many details, she said that there were belly dancers and even a few men on hand. “It was really a Girls-just-want-to-have-fun party,” she said.

As Karan entered a new decade, she has had some time to reflect. Which begged the question, is she content with all her impressive accomplishments?

“Not yet,” she said without missing a beat. “I have a plan, and I am not there yet. But it’s not about my goals. It’s about community goals. It’s about the country. It’s about young people all over the world. The biggest problem we have is leadership, and what it means to be united and to help other countries.

“It’s a big project; much bigger than me,” she continued. “It’s about the We, not the Me. It’s about finding the calm within the chaos. It’s about creating a community of consciousness and change. We all need to come together for positive change. Dressing and Addressing. We have a lot of work to do. This a call to action.”