It’s November and the spirit of generosity is in the air.
Are you looking to give back this season, but don't know where to start?⁠ Check out the 125+ volunteer events and opportunities linked below!

125+ Volunteer Opportunities for the Season of Giving

The 2024 edition of our annual LA2050 Social Impact Gift Guide features 80+ products and experiences sourced from local nonprofits, sustainable makers, cultural establishments, and BIPOC-owned businesses. There’s something for everyone on your list – 

Social Impact Gift Guide – Shop 80+ gifts for good!

Eight Los Angeles Nonprofits Receiving Funds For Non-Partisan Voter Engagement Work For the 2024 Election

, we heard from impact leaders from across Los Angeles and this nation.

VIDEO: AmeriCorps’ Michael D. Smith Leads Our LA2050 Grantee Showcase Panel On Volunteerism

The Goldhirsh Foundation connected a coalition of nine Los Angeles-area foundations who made the grants. Speakers at the event, dubbed the LA2050 Grantee Showcase, included Michael D. Smith, CEO of AmeriCorps; LA County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis; and News Not Noise founder Jessica Yellin.

More than $3 Million in Grants Awarded to 68 Nonprofit Organizations in the LA2050 Grants Challenge

We’re gearing up to announce this year’s LA2050 Grants Challenge winners on October 2nd; but, first, let’s take a peek at the public voting results from 2022 to 2024. 📊

Six Infographics That Tell The History of Your Grants Challenge Votes, 2022-2024

LA2050 has been honored with multiple awards. 

LA2050 is an award winning initiative! 

Over 11 years of the LA2050 Grants Challenge, we have collected 3,985 ideas for a better Los Angeles, and they are all available on our Ideas Hub on our website. On the Ideas Hub, you can filter for organizations, ideas, or to see all of the winners throughout the years.

Explore 3,985 Innovative Ideas to Transform LA on the LA2050 Ideas Hub

Since the beginning of the LA2050 Grants Challenge, a grand total of 2,632 organizations have applied for funding with ideas for a better Los Angeles. All of these organizations can be found on our website via the Ideas Hub. On the Ideas Hub, you can filter for organizations, ideas, or to see all of the winners throughout the years.

Discover 2,632 Organizations Shaping a Better LA on the LA2050 Ideas Hub

Today, September 4th, the City of Los Angeles celebrates its 243rd birthday! 🎉

Happy Birthday, City of Angels

2019 LA2050 Grants Challenge winner in the PLAY category

 – approached the Goldhirsh Foundation last year with a quandary: How to refine its approach to the corporate partnerships that help fund Harlem Lacrosse’s impactful work?

Harlem Lacrosse: Five Lessons about Nonprofit / Corporate Partnerships

Thank You So Much! Letters From LA2050 Youth Ambassadors to LA Nonprofits

Who can volunteer for a better LA? YOU can!

LA2050 Activates 3,500+ Volunteers Across LA!

The Goldhirsh Foundation and its LA2050 initiative have promoted Mariam Bagdady to the position of Social Media and Communications Assistant.

Mariam Bagdady Promoted to New Position at Goldhirsh Foundation and LA2050

This year’s LA2050 Youth Ambassador cohort was made up of 187 engaged young people, ages 14 to 24, representing neighborhoods all across Los Angeles County. Together they helped spread the word about voting in the LA2050 Grants Challenge to friends, family, and neighbors, and engaged 3,500+ voters.

187 Youth Ambassadors engage 3,500+ voters in the LA2050 Grants Challenge!

Summer has arrived and what better way to celebrate the warmth of the sun than with some good old fashioned midsummer wardrobe cleaning? Here are ten places to donate clothes and more in Los Angeles while making an impact in the process!

10 Impactful Places to Donate Clothes and More

We're excited to share mid-year updates on the incredible work of our 2023 grantee cohort. Each of the 15 Goldhirsh Foundation winners of the LA2050 Grants Challenge sent us these updates, as did the five recipients of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation’s awards made through the LA2050 Grants Challenge.


Our 2023 LA2050 Grantees Share Mid-Year Updates!

[The following mid-year update was written by the organization and then sent to us for further sharing.]

SJLI Advances Education, Fosters Economic Opportunities, and Builds Careers for Youth

PPP Empowers Formerly Incarcerated Women, Non-Binary, and Trans People Through Ceramics 

Para Los Niños Promotes Economic Advancement for 2,000 Young Adults

Foster Nation’s CareerX Coaching Program Forges 140 Connections for Foster Youth

Halfway through the grant period, we’re thrilled to report that LA2050 Grants Challenge and Hilton Foundation support has enabled Flintridge Center to double-down on delivering employment support and opportunities to young people.

Flintridge Center’s YOP Provides Diversion and Development Services for Systems-Impacted Youth

First Place for Youth is proud to share progress made in connecting transition-age foster youth to high-quality careers that will improve their economic independence through our Steps to Success program and evidence-based Earn and Learn Model. Through strategic partnerships with employers in high-growth sectors such as construction, healthcare, and information technology, First Place equips youth to enter the workforce with a competitive edge in the labor market, and the skills needed to advance towards living-wage careers. Our program provides individualized education and employment support, starting with career coaching to help youth establish the connection between education, employment and lifetime earning potential, and then supports them in selecting, enrolling, and completing pre-apprenticeships, apprenticeships, and other types of earn-and-learn opportunities.

First Place for Youth Connects 177 Transition-Age Foster Youth to Careers

Streets for All is Transforming Transit in Los Angeles

LANI Empowers Communities Through Expanding Green Spaces in LA

LA2050, in collaboration with our funding partners, is granting $2 million to the issues that LA cares about most!

Questions about the LA2050 Grants Challenge application? Team LA2050 has the answers!

After more than a decade of reviewing applications for the 

 have identified some common themes in the 

. We’ve compiled 10 of these tips and tricks below, to help you craft the most compelling application for funding.

How to Write a Winning LA2050 Grants Challenge Application

Prosperity Market Helps 60+ Black Businesses Thrive

Peer Health Exchange's Curriculum Engages 2,511 Young Angelenos 

North East Trees Revitalizes LA with the Power of Nature

LMU (re)Location Reflects on the Resilience of 20 Lao and Korean Elders

At Los Angeles Walks, our mission is clear: we're committed to ensuring safe walking for everyone in LA. Unfortunately, children in grades K-8 face disproportionate risks from traffic violence, particularly in historically disinvested neighborhoods. This harsh reality means that many children in our communities can't access basic necessities like school and recreation without risking their lives.

Los Angeles Walks Leads the Charge Against Traffic Violence

LA Voice Guides Faith Communities to Create 2,298 Affordable Housing Units

Access to nature is a fundamental determinant of health, yet research shows that low-income and communities of color often lack access to parks and natural spaces. Disconnected from the natural world, especially the LA River, due to urban development, historical neglect, and a scarcity of accessible green spaces – youth are left unaware of the River's significant impact on their community, health, and ecosystem. Our immersive environmental education program, Source to Sea, addresses this disparity by connecting Los Angeles’s most underserved students to their urban ecosystem.

FoLAR Connects 470 Underserved Students to their Urban Ecosystem 

Flavors from Afar and the Tiyya Foundation Empowers Refugee, Asylee, and Low-Income Immigrant Families

DignityMoves is honored to be among the 10th LA2050 Grants Challenge awardees as part of the housing and homelessness issue area. Beginning in October of 2023, with the support of LA2050 and the Goldhirsh Foundation, we embarked on a mission to address the urgent housing and homelessness crisis in Los Angeles County. Initially, as part of our LA2050 grant, we partnered with the City of Norwalk to develop a strategic homelessness plan to address their unsheltered population. The Norwalk City Council adopted our Homelessness Strategic Plan, but they have not moved forward with implementing interim supportive housing. We then shifted focus to other small cities in LA County and our work quickly evolved to encompass a broader scope of innovative solutions and partnerships within LA County.

DignityMoves Creates Affordable Housing in LA County

Defy Ventures Transforms Lives and Reduces Recidivism for Formerly Incarcerated People

Birthworkers of Color Collective Trains 450+ Diverse Doulas

Art for Healing and Justice Network is Transforming Youth Through Art

The Goldhirsh Foundation announced that Jen García will join as the organization’s AI Executive in Residence.

Goldhirsh Foundation Welcomes Jen García, AI Executive in Residence

Tara Roth, president of our parent organization the Goldhirsh Foundation, has been named one of the 20 Most Influential Civic Leaders – and one of the 500 Most Influential People – in Los Angeles.

Tara Roth Named One of Los Angeles’  Most Influential People

During Pride Month, we commemorate and celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community. Join us in uplifting the essence of pride by exploring 24 vibrant opportunities for involvement listed below.

Proud to Serve: Your Guide to Pride Month Volunteer Opportunities

The Goldhirsh Foundation’s LA2050 initiative is a back-to-back Winner in the prestigious annual Shorty Awards, a competition 

Fast Company once described as the “Oscars of Social Media.”

LA2050 is a Shorty Awards Winner – the ‘Oscars of Social Media’ 

Want to learn more about this year’s LA2050 Grants Challenge applications?

Register Now: LA2050 Grants Challenge Information Sessions and Office Hours!

In collaboration with our funding partners, LA2050 is granting more than $2 million to the issues that LA cares about most.

Introducing the Issues We’re Funding for 2024!

2024 LA2050 Grants Challenge – These are the issues LA voted to fund!

" short video has received another honor, this time being a Winner of the 

s in the "General / Nonprofit" category. Thank you to the jury members of The Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts, and congratulations to all of the other winners in various categories. ⁠

LA2050 “Join the Movement” Video Is Winner At Communicator Awards

Wednesday, May 8th at 11:59pm is the final deadline to vote in the 11th annual LA2050 Grants Challenge.

Deadline: May 8th, 11:59pm → Share The Issues That Matter To You Most 

Please join us in thanking our 2024 Outreach Partners for spreading the word about voting across LA County!

Thank you 2024 Outreach Partners!

The LA2050 Grants Challenge is featured in an article by Martha Ramirez in 

LA2050 and Goldhirsh Foundation featured in Inside Philanthropy

Exciting news! Legendary public media outlet 

 has joined the LA2050 Grants Challenge as one of our media partners. We're grateful for their help engaging Angelenos.

Listen to the LA2050 Grants Challenge on KCRW!

Voting in the LA2050 Grants Challenge is open now until May 8th! Cast your vote today.

Meet the 183 Awesome Angelenos Serving as LA2050 Youth Ambassadors!

Votes can be cast online at LA2050.org. Also, new this year: 24 volunteer opportunities

Public Voting Begins Today for the $2 Million LA2050 Grants Challenge

**Thank you for your interest, this position has been filled. You can explore our 

 for open positions at nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and other social impact organizations in Los Angeles.**


Join Team LA2050 as Assistant to the President!

Each year, LA2050 gives $1 million to nonprofits and other social impact organizations making Los Angeles better through the LA2050 Grants Challenge. Angelenos determine the issue areas that will receive funding – from homelessness and income inequality to park access – through voting. Voting takes place on 

 from April 2nd to May 8th, and is open to all ages and available in 10 languages.

Introducing our LA2050 Volunteer Activation Hosts!

Ed. note: Born and raised in Los Angeles, 

– a Goldhirsh Foundation and LA2050 Social Media and Communications Fellow – describes herself as an expert-beginner in skateboarding, taco stands, and the local music scene. She is a writer who has witnessed the changes and prospects all across Los Angeles, from backyard music shows to new cultural centers, and city-funded support programs. As a witness to these moments of growth, her observational skills have transcended from visions to resources. Now, she wants to share some of these tips with you. All below is Gabrielle’s guide to help readers understand more about what the city has to offer beyond its glitter:

Los Angeles, Who Makes You? 

LA2050 is an initiative of the Goldhirsh Foundation.

Goldhirsh Foundation Names Groundbreaking All-Female Investment Committee

, an interactive, half-day workshop focused on offering nonprofits and social impact organizations practical insight into how artificial intelligence (AI) can be leveraged in their work.

LA2050 Hosts “Artificial Intelligence for Social Good” Workshop

 to cast your vote in the current election cycle.

24 Iconic Places to Vote in ‘24

For this week’s #FaveFive, we’re excited to feature Freya Estreller, Chief Operating Officer of Dignity Moves.

#FaveFive featuring Freya Estreller of Dignity Moves

The Goldhirsh Foundation and LA2050 have won a 

, the organization behind the prestigious prizes announced today. The honor is in the 

, and is for the 2023 LA2050 Grants Challenge. Congratulations to all our fellow winners and nominees!
The Anthem Awards honors the purpose and mission-driven work of people, companies, and organizations worldwide. In each of the past two years, LA2050 received Silver Anthem Awards. This year, we also received a 

Bronze Anthem Award in the "Local Awareness Campaign" category

, again, for the LA2050 Grants Challenge.

The Goldhirsh Foundation and LA2050 initiative have won a Gold Anthem Award!

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner!

From LA2050 With Love: Dates for Good across Los Angeles! 

Thank you for your interest in this opportunity. As of February 28th, 2024 at 5pm PST applications have closed.

APPLY NOW! $5,000 Mini-Grants for Volunteer Activations

2024 LA2050 Youth Ambassador Program – Open Now!

LA2050 Youth Ambassadors Dream of a Future of LA

Recently, our colleague LeAnn Kelch Melendez, Director of Grants and Programs appeared on 

Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy Los Angeles

’ panel called “Innovations in Philanthropy: Leveraging Pooled Funds, PRIs, and Community-Guided Grantmaking."

Our teammate LeAnn Kelch Melendez shined on EPIP LA's Recent Panel + Key Takeaways

Our 2022 LA2050 Grantees Share Final Updates!

Every January, we commemorate the remarkable life and triumphs of Martin Luther King Jr. Join us in embracing the spirit of his legacy through acts of service and community enrichment.

Unity in Action - Volunteer Opportunities for MLK Day of Service 2024

Thank you to all applicants for your interest in collaborating with us and for taking the time to submit thoughtful applications. After careful consideration, we have chosen to pursue a different direction at this time. 

Seeking: Contract Front End Developer 

Established in 2011, the Leadership Academy is a training program with the purpose of teaching organizing and advocacy skills, civic engagement, and local community action. Since its inception, the Leadership Academy program has graduated more than 215 participants from diverse backgrounds (77% identify as low-income and 90% identify as BIPOC (black, indigenous, people of color), many of whom have successful environmental careers as park rangers, community organizers, educators, artists, storytellers, etc.

Nature for All is Connecting People from Underrepresented Communities to Nature

The RightWay Foundation’s program Operation Housing First disrupts the cycle of generational poverty and trauma for emancipated foster youth in Los Angeles County. In order to stop the foster care to homelessness pipeline, RightWay secures safely-located apartments for emancipated foster youth at risk of becoming chronically unhoused, signs the master lease, supplies the security deposit, and pays a portion of each month’s rent for one year while helping our youth build financial independence and healthy lives through our intensive programs and services.

The RightWay Foundation’s Operation Housing First shelters 50 youth

Thanks to LA2050, Compton Creek Natural Park was able to reach its potential as a cultural, educational, and recreational hub for its neighborhood. LA2050 funding supported young people with paid work experience and on-the-job training. They spent their time learning park operations and performing community beautification. Park operations included staff support for community programming and extended open hours for the public.

Compton Creek Natural Park sees increase in visitors thanks to LA Conservation Corps

The Anti-Recidivism Coalition is a leading justice reform organization based in Los Angeles that serves system-impacted Californians statewide. We are proud of our work to empower formerly and currently incarcerated people to thrive. To ensure our communities are safe, healthy, and whole, we provide a support network which includes formerly incarcerated people, comprehensive reentry services, inside programming for those who are currently incarcerated, and opportunities to advocate for policy change.

 ARC gives formerly incarcerated youth access to creative industry employment 

For the 2022-2023 school year, Sharefest’s Youth Leadership Academy (YLA) expanded to six Continuation High Schools in the South LA and Harbor areas of Los Angeles: Avalon (Wilmington), Angel's Gate (San Pedro), Patton (Harbor City), Simon Rodia (Watts/South Gate), Moneta (Gardena), and, new this year, William J. Johnson Community Day School (San Pedro). In three of the schools (Angel’s Gate, Patton, Moneta) our Career and College Development Courses were a required weekly class during the school day – meaning, every student in the school benefited from YLA programming. In the other schools, the courses were available at the end of the day as electives.

Sharefest’s Youth Leadership Academy enrolls more than 380 students

As we reflect on our LA 2050 Grant-funded project, we are proud of the impacts our team, partners, interns, and community accomplished and are inspired to continue this work! Receiving LA 2050 funding allowed us to transform The Rebel Garden Project from a small pilot program into a larger, much more impactful offering, and catalyzed us to receive other supplemental funds from partners like Sony Pictures Entertainment, Monat Gratitude and The California Arts Council.

RuckusRoots’ Rebel Garden Project engages 29 systems impacted students

Lost Angels Children's Project (LACP) is a non-profit organization with the mission to serve disadvantaged youth, families, and distressed communities through innovative vocational training, social enterprise, and outreach programs. LACP was founded in 2014. Since inception LACP has trained and mentored youth in the Antelope Valley. LACP empowers and employs transitional age youth (TAY) within the Antelope Valley community and Greater Los Angeles area by offering a paid vocational training program that provides a direct path to sustainable job placement. LACP program participants are socioeconomically disadvantaged, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, single parents, young women, justice and/or foster systems-impacted transition-aged youth. LACP is a vocational skills training and youth development organization that engages at-risk and foster youth through classic car restoration and customization, to learn a trade, gain life skills and become empowered through team building activities.

Lost Angels Work Program engages at-risk youth in classic car restoration

All information presented in this report was possible through the support provided to LA CAUSA YouthBuild- Proyecto Avanza by the LA2050 grant opportunity. The Proyecto Avanza (https://www.lacausainc.org/project-avanza) was officially announced opportunities available in our website and a marketing flyer was distributed to all partnerships, as well as through various social media platforms and community spaces. The aim of the recruitment plan was to focus on young individuals who have been impacted by the system and coming from underprivileged or disadvantaged backgrounds. As a result, we effectively engaged with 308 individuals between the ages of 16 and 24 from low-income communities in East Los Angeles through our outreach efforts. As a result, 110 youth enrolled into our program. Through this grant opportunity, we provided services to a diverse group of young individuals who faced various challenges such as mental health issues, drug and alcohol dependency, involvement in the justice system, teenage parenthood, gang affiliation, and being victims of violence. Our program offered activities that were tailored to the needs of these young people, with the goal of motivating and empowering them to create positive changes in their own lives and in their communities. In acknowledgement of their journey and the challenges they overcame, we had a graduation venue in celebration of their academic accomplishments and determination.

LA CAUSA Youth Build-Project Avanza reaches more than 300 East LA Youth

Homeboy Industries’ Youth Re-entry Center (YRC) is the first program of its kind in Los Angeles County, and an important resource for at-risk and/or formerly gang involved or incarcerated youth. There are currently 207 youth actively engaged in programming at the YRC. Here, we help youth participants address gang involvement, recidivism, unemployment, and complex trauma by combining evidence-based therapeutic case management services with education, career development, and comprehensive wraparound services. We work in partnerships with Learning Works Charter School, Homeboy Art Academy, as well as several local universities to ensure that we are able to provide holistic, effective support to youth in our community.

Homeboy Industries Youth Reentry Center:  Provides Hope and Healing for Formerly Gang-Involved or Incarcerated Youth

Before we bid farewell to 2023, we want to take a look back.

Our 2023 LA2050 Yearbook

Support from philanthropic partners including LA2050 allowed Fulfillment Fund to expand its reach in Los Angeles and beyond, providing deeper, more individualized, and robust support to students and parents over the last year. In total, Fulfillment Fund served 3,660 unique students through our growing College Access and Success Programs in academic year 2022-23. Among those served last year, 99% identify as individuals of color, 94% live in socioeconomically disadvantaged households, and just 13% speak only English at home.

Fulfillment Fund’s College Access and Success Programs serves more 3,000 students

The core of Foster Nation’s work is the belief that we all have the power to be better than the circumstances we were born into. And sometimes we all just need a meaningful connection to help us reach our greatest potential. Over the past year, we have been able to improve, expand, and scale the CareerX coaching program that helps Los Angeles foster youth develop life, social, and professional skills in order to be self-sufficient after foster care.

Foster Nation’s CareerX Coaching Program Creates Connection & Community

The Urban Peace Institute (UPI) officially launched our South Park School Safety Collaborative with support from the Goldhirsh Foundation’s LA2050 initiative in 2022. Through the initiative’s PLAY area, UPI was able to reimagine community safety by supporting peacemakers and building community leaders throughout the year. Through the awarded funding, UPI was able to implement robust programs to provide South Park residents with support to implement safety strategies within their neighborhoods.

UPI works with South Park residents to implement safety strategies

Trust for Public Land is grateful for LA2050’s support in helping us to realize our goal of connecting Los Angeles residents to the joys and benefits of the outdoors. Over the past twelve months, and with the support of LA2050, Trust for Public Land has made significant progress in advancing our Parks for People efforts in Los Angeles. We opened the Central Jefferson and Quincy Jones green alley networks in South Los Angeles and made headway on two more greenways; completed 80% of construction of Urban Orchard in South Gate and advanced three additional neighborhood parks; began construction of Castellanos Elementary’s green schoolyard—our first in Los Angeles—and raised significant funds and community support for more green schoolyards across the region.

Trust for Public Land advances its Parks for People efforts

The Theodore Payne Foundation is pleased to present the final grant report for the “Climate-Ready Native Plant Landscaper Training'' project funded by LA2050. This initiative aimed to address the growing need for a knowledgeable landscaper workforce in Southern California, specifically trained in the cultivation and care of native plants. This transformative initiative, driven by the vision of preserving Southern California’s unique ecology, empowering landscape professionals, and fostering sustainable urban environments, has yielded remarkable outcomes. Through the California Native Plant Landscaper Certificate Program (CNPLC), a bilingual job-training endeavor, we have not only met but exceeded our goals, leaving a lasting impact on our community and the environment. This report details the achievements and ongoing commitment to building a resilient, water-conserving, and climate-friendly landscape industry in Los Angeles.

The Theodore Payne Foundation delivers bilingual job training for landscape professionals

LA2050 funded the Thai Community Development Center’s Thai Town Marketplace (TTMP), a new approach to urban revitalization and an innovative “green” community market. Creating the first “Health/Wealth Zone”, the TTMP will deliberately link health and economic outcomes, revitalize the area, help low-income residents start their first business, create 18 businesses every three years and over 60 jobs, teach vendors financial and health literacy, host monthly health and information booths for visitors at our adjacent farmers’ market, increase access to healthy foods by enrolling individuals into public benefits programs, and make local organizations’ social services more accessible.

Thai CDC's Thai Town Marketplace: Making an Impact Through Food, People and Place

During the past year, in the 2023 grant period, formerly the Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition, now recently unveiled as ÓRALE, has indelibly supported the growth, leadership, and development of 43 community members who graduated via our immigrant liberation-centered leadership program for undocumented and impacted community members and their families. Astoundingly, in this past grant, we have bore witness to the incredible strength, resilience, and the powerful growth of innate leadership that exists within each and every of our leadership academy graduates. As shared by our organizing team, who directs the program, foundationally and at the heart of what every graduate and student goes through, is a real deepening of tangible organizing skills that they can later use in their professional careers as well as a transformative space where they are challenged to deepen their understanding of how systems of policy work coupled with systems of oppression work so as to inherently inform the challenges they and their families experience in their daily lives. ÓRALE’s leadership academy is unique in that it develops the innate leadership skills of immigrant community members while at the same giving students a deeper understanding of systems that have been designed to work against them and systems that are incredibly fraught with discrimination and xenophobia. Incredibly, ÓRALE’s Leadership Academy conducted a combined leadership training of a series of political educational workshops, with a total number 135 leadership and education training hours for community members. It is via the School for Unity and Liberation SOUL adapted training program that our community members received highly specialized instruction on topics that truly inform their capacity to feel empowered to lead in

ORALÉ fka LBIRC, announces 43 graduates of its immigrant liberation centered leadership program

The Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) Equity Innovation Program (EIP) provides additional resources to historically underserved entrepreneurs (women, BIPOC or those from historically under-resourced/-represented communities). These small business founders gain additional coaching and mentorship with industry experts in zero emission transportation, renewable energy and circular economy sectors; business support services such as accounting, legal, and marketing; access to much needed capital; and technical guidance on how to grow and scale their businesses. EIP also helps founders develop and launch new pilots as proof points on the path to commercialization.

Historically underserved entrepreneurs reach success through LACI’s Equity Innovation Program

“Environmental Justice is the movement to ensure that no community suffers disproportionate environmental burdens or goes without fair environmental benefits.” Vans Jones

Clean Air Is a Human Right: Legacy LA's Natural Park Air Pollution Solution

The Tenant Power Toolkit (TPT) is a collaborative project between Inner City Law Center (ICLC) and the Debt Collective that prevents homelessness by helping low-income tenants stay housed. TPT is an unprecedented, free online resource that helps California renters respond to eviction complaints and stay in their homes. The TPT takes tenants online answers to simple questions (currently in English or Spanish and is being expanded to include 12 additional languages), applies all statewide and local laws governing evictions in their jurisdiction, and then generates the required legal paperwork, including an application for a waiver of hundreds of dollars in court filing fees.

Inner City Law Center and Debt Collective Collaborate to help low-income tenants stay housed

Healing California provides low-barrier, comprehensive dental and vision care services at no cost to individuals who would otherwise not have access to quality care. By partnering with other community and nonprofit organizations and a vast network of volunteer licensed health care professionals, we serve patients at community health clinics, Veteran Stand Downs and other locations throughout LA County. We remove as many barriers as possible to patients receiving care. We do not require identification or proof of income or citizenship; we limit paperwork to the minimum necessary; we do not charge for our services; we provide language interpretation when possible. Above all, we treat our patients with dignity and respect.

Healing California is connecting 500+ individuals to dental and vision care

is a one-of-a-kind restaurant and social enterprise of the Tiyya Foundation providing refugees and asylum seekers interested in culinary arts the platform to showcase their cuisines. Each featured chef is given the opportunity to hone their culinary skills in a restaurant setting, gain valuable work experience, and receive a percent of gross sales. Additionally, forty percent of Flavors from Afar’s proceeds helps maintain Tiyya’s programs providing economic resources for refugees, immigrants, and displaced indigenous communities.

Flavors From Afar is bridging the gap between refugee chefs and the local community

Education Through Music-Los Angeles is grateful for LA2050’s partnership which nurtured our post-pandemic recovery efforts in bringing music education back to under-resourced school communities across LA County. In the 2022-23 school year, ETM-LA reached approximately 18,500 students across 42 schools and 5 school districts with sequential, comprehensive music education yearlong. ETM-LA onboarded two new schools: Gil Garcetti Learning Academy and Washington Elementary in Compton. Despite the challenges due to the nationwide teacher shortage and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, ETM-LA successfully: provided weekly, sequential, yearlong in-school music instruction to all partner school students; worked with school principals to build individualized multi-year plans to guide sustainability; provided 100+ hours of customized professional development to music teachers and classroom teachers, including an emphasis on strategies to support students’ social-emotional well-being; performed ongoing assessment and evaluation; increased parent and community involvement to build support, awareness, and advocacy for core curriculum music education; and supported emerging practitioners in music.

ETM-LA is Bringing Music Education to 18,500 Students Across LA County

Over the course of the past few months, over 200 community members voted in the Climate Resolve “Hottest in LA: the Bus Stop Heat Bracket,” funded by LA2050 and the Goldhirsh Foundation. The Bracket consisted of the hottest, most-used bus stops in Los Angeles County

The Results Are In – The Final 4 of Climate Resolve's Bus Stop Heat Bracket

BWW x GSO: Collaborative Pilot Project CalFresh Education and Outreach

Thank you to everyone who participated in our 

Giving Tuesday Match Update: You Raised $24,000 for LA Nonprofits

The Goldhirsh Foundation and its LA2050 initiative announced today that Khalil Humphries has joined the staff of the organization as the assistant to the president.

New Assistant to the President Khalil Humphries Joins Goldhirsh Foundation and its LA2050 Initiative

The Goldhirsh Foundation and its LA2050 initiative have promoted two team members to new positions within the organization.

LeAnn Kelch Melendez and Carla Fuentes Promoted to New Positions at LA2050

Presents often involve a long list of materials: wrapping paper, tissue paper, bows, and packing peanuts, bags, boxes, and tape–gift wrapping creates so much waste! Besides being an added cost to gift-giving, the tradition of extravagant wrapping makes 

 of waste subsequently sent to landfills.

The Alt-Green Guide to Gift Wrapping

On November 14th, LA2050 hosted “Engaging with Elected Offices - How to Cultivate Relationships with Your Representatives,” a virtual panel and Q+A session for more than 50 LA2050 grantees and partners.

Key Takeaways from “Engaging with Elected Offices - How to Cultivate Relationships with Your Representatives”

NEW VIDEO: What’s better than visiting ONE intriguing Los Angeles location with the brilliantly funny actor, writer, director, and producer Andrea Savage? Visiting THREE places!

Andrea Savage stars in new video for LA2050's Social Impact Gift Guide

The latest happenings from our LA2050 community.

News & Announcements

Get updates about LA2050 plus social impact job openings, local events and highlights, funding opportunities, and ways you can make a difference in our region.

https://la2050.org/blog/3-million-grants-awarded-60-nonprofit-organizations-la2050

LA2050 is an initiative driving and tracking progress toward a shared vision for the future of Los Angeles.

Welcome to this living collection of some of your favorite Los Angeles places and spaces!

Your Favorite Los Angeles Places and Spaces

Get to know LA better through the lens of social impact.

Shaping the future of LA, together.

More than $3 Million for a Better LA!

LA2050 Grantees

Healing Harms Restorative Youth Diversion

Doula Access for All

Pathways to Economic Advancement for Diverse Educators in Diverse Classrooms

By LA, for LA.