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We’ve got access to the information that every Angeleno needs to make an impact. Our blog features the latest LA2050 news, announcements, features, happenings, grantee updates, and more.

LA2050 Blog

Today on the LA2050.org website, we launched a section titled, “

.” Please see the link in bio and go check it out!

LA2050 is committed to visual storytelling. The Gallery is full of examples of the artworks, graphics, illustrations, infographics, e-books, posters, tote bags, and much more created through the years by our talented Design Fellows.

They include: Lauren Song, Johnathan Huang, Mana

Megan Park, and Ashley Lukashevsky. Our 2023 IRL voting booths were designed by LeAnn Kelch Melendez.

Explore Our New LA2050 Design Gallery

As 2024 winds down, we’re celebrating all that the LA2050 community has accomplished over the past 12 months and 

Check out our special Pinterest-inspired look back, below.

We launched our 11th LA2050 Grants Challenge, with the aim of encouraging collective action and service through our theme of “Who can? You can!” 

And, Angelenos answered the call! Almost 15,000 of you cast more than 

 in 12 languages for the issues that mattered most to you to determine our funding priorities. But, that’s not all: for the first time, we also highlighted opportunities to make a tangible impact on those same issues and partnered with 24 organizations all across LA to host diverse 

. We were so inspired that more than 3,500 of you joined, contributing 

; 187 young people, ages 14 to 24, that dove headfirst into voting and volunteering as part of this year’s Grants Challenge.

Together with our funding partners, we granted more than 

 in collaboration with 70 community evaluators. On October 2nd, more than 100 social impact leaders gathered at the Hammer Museum for the 

 – the culmination of this year's Grants Challenge – to honor and encourage the nonprofits receiving grants. ⁠

 included Michael D. Smith, CEO of AmeriCorps; Jessica Yellin, founder of the nonprofit News Not Noise; LA County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis; California State Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas; and representatives of this year's funding partners.

We amplified opportunities to make an impact in LA through donating, gifting, and volunteering. 

$30,000 for 78 different local nonprofits 

via our LA2050 Ideas Hub match – thanks to your generosity! Last month, we also published our 

, encouraging you to use your holiday shopping for good with 80+ products and experiences sourced from local nonprofits, sustainable makers, cultural establishments, and BIPOC-owned businesses. We even partnered with actor Andrea Savage to produce a 

 featuring Andrea visiting four organizations from the gift guide, learning more about their work and products. And, throughout the year, we shared 

We sought to uplift local nonprofits through action-oriented events and helpful resources. 

 providing practical insight into how artificial intelligence (AI) can be leveraged in impact work; we followed that up with a series of six hands-on AI training sessions for grantees over the summer. In October, we programmed two panels for LA Tech Week – “Technology and Storytelling for Social Good” and “AI for Social Good” – to continue the conversation. And, in response to questions from a former LA2050 grantee, we released a 

guide to successful corporate-nonprofit partnerships

 based on interviews with leaders in the field.

We curated opportunities and resources for those interested in deeper engagement with our region’s impact sector. 

Over the past year, we posted hundreds of social impact job openings on the

. We released maps to help us get to know our region better – from sites 

annual e-book celebrating LA’s birthday

, we invited elected officials representing Los Angeles at the national, state, and local levels to share what they love about the city and their wishes for its future.

We continued to build our incredible LA2050 community, together.

 Our work to make LA the best place to live, learn, play, create, and connect is only possible because of YOU! To stay engaged as we move into 2025 together, be sure to connect with us on 

Our LA2050 Year-In-Review

Calling all bookworms! 📣📚❤️ Check out this two part map with a few of our favorite LA indie bookstores! (Quotes are from stores’ websites.)

 is "where art & minds meet for change,” both a cultural center and independent bookstore in Sylmar.

 is "an independent bookstore café in the heart of Culver City."

 is an independent bookstore in Inglewood that prioritizes books, comics, and zines by and about Black women, girls, femmes, and gender expansive people.

 is a longstanding center for Black literary LA, located in Leimert Park. Its owners recently said they plan on closing the IRL store soon.

 has "books for kids en Español," and also promotes cultural events, artists, and authors.

 "LA's oldest independent bookstore and an iconic cornerstone of Larchmont Village.”

 is a "fiercely independent bookstore” in Los Feliz.

 is "the largest new & used bookstore in California" with a famous book tunnel, record shop, and more.

 is a proudly progressive activist bookstore in Long Beach offering a curated selection of books and related material on activism and organizing.

 is the "literary heart of Long Beach" which hosts author events, poetry nights, and more.

 is "the only exclusively romance bookstore on the West Coast."

 "is a new, used, rare, and out-of-print bookshop. We are an independently owned shop located in Torrance."

 is a volunteer-run bookshop in West Adams, with a “Buy a Comrade a Book” button on their website.

 "is a Black-owned concept bookshop and creative space."

 is an independent bookstore in San Pedro with "all aspects of Philippine culture and history in English and Pilipino."

 "is a Boyle Heights-based lending library that puts low-or no-cost books into all hands, native and immigrant, Eastside and West.”

 has "books, comics and zines in Boyle Heights."

 – "Where knowledge frees you!" – is an immigrant owned family business in Lynwood.

 is a nonprofit and volunteer-run bookstore in Downtown Pomona.

 is "a children’s online bookstore with a mission: to promote independently published books and provide new books to underserved children."

LA2050 Blog

20 Indie Bookstores in Los Angeles