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 100 social impact leaders gathered together today at the Hammer Museum in order to honor and encourage 60 outstanding Los Angeles-area nonprofit organizations during the culminating event of the 2024 LA2050 Grants Challenge. The 60 nonprofits were awarded a total of $2,915,000 in grants.

The nonprofits are as different and powerful as Los Angeles itself, offering services ranging from digital literary training to older adults (Bridge The Digital Divide), to mixed martial arts training for at-risk youth to promote physical health while also building resilience and confidence (A Fighting Chance), to three-time grantee The Tiyya Foundation and its Michelin Bib-Gourmand restaurant and catering company, Flavors From Afar, which enabling refugees and immigrants to thrive in their new communities through job placement and workforce readiness.

The nearly $3 million in grants came from a coalition of funding partners: Goldhirsh Foundation, who run the LA2050 Grants Challenge; Annenberg Foundation, Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Snap Foundation, John N. Calley Foundation, Elbaz Family Foundation; and joining the Grants Challenge for the first time, both the R&S Kayne Foundation and the Fox Foundation.

Speakers at the event today, known as the “LA2050 Grantee Showcase,” included Michael D. Smith, CEO of AmeriCorps; Tara Roth, president of the Goldhirsh Foundation; Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis; California State Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas; and Lucia Knell, co-author of the New York Times best-selling book, Upworthy: Good People. Chief Service Officer for the State of California Josh Fryday provided a video message. Jessica Yellin, founder of the nonprofit News Not Noise, served as emcee.

A panel, “Building Community Through Volunteerism,” was moderated by AmeriCorps’ Smith and featured the insights of a quartet of nonprofit executives: Helen Leung, Executive Director, LA Más; Quan Huynh, Executive Director, Southern California, Defy Ventures; and Romel Pascual, Executive Director of CicLAvia.

“The LA2050 Grants Challenge exemplifies our commitment to creatively and collectively deploying financial, social, and human capital” said Tara Roth, president of the Goldhirsh Foundation. “Year after year, I am impressed by how participatory and collaborative the Grants Challenge is, and by the pathbreaking ideas and strategies Angelenos are undertaking to make positive change.”

The LA2050 Grants Challenge is an annual participatory grantmaking program, funding ideas to make Los Angeles the best place to connect, create, learn, live, and play. The theme of this year’s Grants Challenge was volunteerism. The campaign slogan – “Who Can? YOU Can!” – underscored the importance of individuals contributing their time, talents, and resources to collective action.

The 2024 LA2050 Grants Challenge invited the public to vote for the issue areas that matter most to them and determine our funding priorities. Almost 15,000 Angelenos cast more than 105,000 votes in 12 languages, representing 98 percent of Los Angeles County’s ZIP codes. For the third consecutive year, housing and homelessness was the top-voted issue. Health care access, and green space, park access, and trees were among other top selections.

“The Annenberg Foundation is proud to support organizations devoted to addressing the critical needs of our time, including food equity and mental health,” said Annenberg Foundation Executive Director Cinny Kennard. “We value this ongoing partnership and the collective impact of our friends and philanthropic leaders at LA2050.”

"The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation proudly supports the LA2050 Grants Challenge as we tackle food insecurity, which often precedes homelessness,” said Nichol Whiteman, CEO of the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation. “Our collective mission creates a lasting impact that builds a stronger, more vibrant city where everyone has a chance to thrive.”

“We are committed to empowering individuals and communities in LA. Our impact is greater when we collaborate with peer funders and community partners,” said Sarah Ali, managing director of the R&S Kayne Foundation. “Thank you, Goldhirsh Foundation, and congrats to the incredible organizations recognized through the LA2050 Grants Challenge.”

“As a foundation dedicated to breaking down barriers people face in reaching their full potential, we jumped at the chance to hear directly from Angelenos what matters to them most and support nonprofits addressing our city's pressing needs,” Dr. Kristen Paglia, executive director of the Fox Foundation, said prior to the event.

"Supporting these grants enables local nonprofits to uplift Opportunity Youth, reduce income inequality, and expand employment opportunities for a more equitable future for our young people," said Christie Cardenas, program officer for the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.

The 2024 LA2050 Grants Challenge also highlighted opportunities to make a tangible impact on those same issues, partnering with 24 nonprofit organizations across Los Angeles County to host diverse volunteer activations. Through the events, more than 3,500 people provided 9,450 hours of service.

Once voting closed, the Foundation opened applications to social impact organizations with ideas to address the top-voted issues. A record-breaking 872 proposals arrived from nonprofits, social enterprises, and government agencies.

View all grant winners here, or find them listed below.

Goldhirsh Foundation, founder and organizer of the LA2050 Grants Challenge, providing $1 million in grant funds to organizations making an impact on this year’s top-voted issue areas:

Health care access: Birthworkers of Color Collective

Income inequality: Pueblo Nuevo Education & Development Group

Foster and systems-impacted youth: The California Conference for Equality and Justice, Inc.

K-12 STEAM education: Partnership for Los Angeles Schools

Housing and homelessness: LA Más

Community safety: Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation

Green space, park access, and trees: Destination Crenshaw

Access to Tech/creative industry employment: Grid110

Social support networks: Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore

Public transit: ACT-LA

The below organizations were honored as runners up from the Goldhirsh Foundation:
A Fighting Chance

Adventures to Dreams Enrichment

Bridge the Digital Divide

Creating Justice LA

Department of Neighborhood Empowerment

Annenberg Foundation, addressing the critical issues of our time through innovation, community, compassion, and communication:

Chicas Verdes

Concrete Queenz

Creative Acts

Fathering Together

Good Habits

Interfaith Food Center

Long Beach Local

Pasadena Village

Street Company

Tia Chucha's Centro Cultural & Bookstore

Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation, funding proven programs that level the playing field and investing in solutions driven by the communities we serve:

Eastmont Community Center

FEAST

Garden School Foundation

Student LunchBox

Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, sponsoring grants to organizations working with young people to decrease income inequality, find quality jobs, or advance within careers:

Arts for Healing and Justice Network

Coffee With A Cause

Kaimore

Mentor for Change

New Earth Organization

Snap Foundation, supporting projects that develop pathways to the creative economy for underrepresented youth.

Boyle Heights Beat

Clay Day LBC

Color Compton

Create Now

Dramatic Results

She Ready Foundation

SoLA Robotics

The Makers Hub

The Young Shakespeareans

Young Musicians Foundation

John N. Calley Foundation, supporting organizations with outstanding applications that consider youth.

Adventures to Dreams Enrichment

Centro CHA

Connecting Compton

Growing Roots

Garden School Foundation

Lost Angels Children's Project

Venice Arts

Vision to Learn

Elbaz Family Foundation, supporting organizations working to address housing and homelessness, income inequality, and K-12 STEAM education.

DignityMoves

Inner City Law Center

PS Science

Streets For All

Tiyya Foundation

R & S Kayne Foundation, investing in people and collaborating with communities to empower positive change:

Anti-Recidivism Coalition

LA Conservation Corps

My Tribe Housing

Youth Business Alliance

Fox Foundation, supporting nonprofit sector innovation, sustainability, and success by investing in mission-based earned income ventures.

PATH Partners

The Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program

Photos:

(Top) AmeriCorps CEO Michael D. Smith

(Second) LA2050 Youth Ambassadors CJ Calica and Marion Noble

(Third) Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis