It truly takes a village to run the annual My LA2050 Grants Challenge. More than 300 social impact organizations apply. 25,000 of you vote. Scores of organizations and institutions and individuals share information about these 1,800 proposals for a better Los Angeles. And, in incredible acts of ongoing generosity, funding partners provide additional financial support to members of the My LA2050 Grants Challenge cohort.

The Annenberg Foundation is one of those longstanding funding partners. Today, we are delighted to announce that Annenberg is providing $50,000 of additional support to these five outstanding social impact organizations: Las Fotos Project, Shower of Hope, DIY Girls, Angel City Sports, and Children Now.

Each of these $10,000 grants supports the five organizations' efforts around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). This funding will allow each to conduct an analysis of the composition of their board, staff, volunteers, and those they serve; and take concrete steps to ensure that diversity, equity, and inclusion are present across all aspects of their work.

To share more of the reasons why these grants are so impactful, and to talk about DEI in general, we reached out to the Annenberg Foundation's Marsha Bonner, Senior Director of Programs, Community Grantmaking & Special Initiatives. The Q&A that follows has been edited for length. We hope you enjoy – and learn.

LA2050: The Annenberg Foundation has been a funding partner of the My LA2050 Grants Challenge for more than seven years. THANK YOU! This marks the fourth time that the Foundation has specifically provided DEI grants to winners. Could you share with our readers why that is such a critical need in grantmaking?

Marsha Bonner: When I joined the Foundation almost seven years ago, I was tasked with really looking at this whole issue of DEI with our grantees and our applicants. We had numerous concerns about the lack of change over time with the look of staff as well as the boards and volunteers who make up the organizations, and so we made a concerted effort to try to address that directly in our application. We have people answer a diversity questionnaire that really looks at the composition. And it's telling both to the organization and to us – people are very surprised at what that looks like.

Once we have a baseline in a first year, we can look at change the following years. In addition to asking the questions about their diversity and equity on their staff and board, we also ask a question: If you could receive funding to help you change, to make change in these areas, what would you fund? That's why we jumped at the chance to do a deeper dive with the My LA2050 winners – because they have a vision for the future of Los Angeles. We've been so happy and thrilled to work with the four years' of winners.

LA2050: What are your hopes that the grant can help provide for the organizations who are benefiting from this partnership?

Marsha Bonner: Several of those organizations are already grantees of ours, so we have some familiarity with their work in this area, but the $10,000 grant is meant for them to do whatever they feel is necessary or that would be helpful to advance their work in this area. Some contract with a DEI consultant, or they have someone come in and work with their board around this issue. Or, they do special advertising when they're looking for staff or board members. We want people to be as creative as possible – we give some ideas, but people come to us with great ideas, passion, and commitment. They want to bring all of their community together and talk about this as an issue, not just because they're getting $10,000, but because they genuinely believe that change is possible in this area. And they're delighted to be able to work with us on this issue.

LA2050: You and the Annenberg Foundation have a history of prioritizing DEI. To name one example: Last year's PledgeLA survey. Could you talk about why that survey was needed, what were its top findings, and whether there have been any updates or new information or impacts since that survey was released?

Marsha Bonner: Sure, and you can also visit the PledgeLA website. The project is designed for the tech and venture capital sectors, members agree to participate in the survey, which is now in its fourth year. The newest results will be available in March. Similar to with our grantees, we are committed to looking for change in the DEI areas around who makes up staff, including senior level people, and who gets funded. After four years, I think the needle is moving slowly, not as quickly as we would hope. But it is shining a light every year on those organizations that say, yes, I'll participate and open up all of our work so that you can see this.

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To learn more about the Annenberg Foundation, visit here. To learn more about PledgeLA, visit here. To learn more about the My LA2050 Grants Challenge, visit here.

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