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

Information Sessions or attend our weekly Office Hours

This year we are offering two unique virtual Information Sessions that will share the important information you need to know to put together a successful application.

 will introduce you to the LA2050 Grants Challenge and share all of the most important information you need to know to put together a successful application. This session is intended for first-time applicants. You are also welcome to register for Information Session - 201, during which we will walk through the application in greater detail, question-by-question. Register now:

101: Introduction to the LA2050 Grants Challenge

 will walk through this year's LA2050 Grants Challenge application in detail, question-by-question, to ensure that you understand how to respond effectively. This session is intended for second-time applicants or those that have already attended Information Session - 101, which introduces the framework of the LA2050 Grants Challenge. Register now:

201: Completing a Successful LA2050 Grants Challenge Application - 

If you have specific questions, you can also sign up to join us for Office Hours

Learn more about the grant funding available through this year’s LA2050 Grants Challenge

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.

Now through June 28th at 5:00 pm (PT), non-profit, for-profit, fiscally-sponsored, or governmental organizations serving Los Angeles County can apply for up to $75,000 in funding via this year’s 

. Close to 15,000 Angelenos cast 105,000 votes for what matters to them – now, we’re looking for the best ideas to make an impact on those 

, as well as those sponsored by this year’s funding partners.

Curious if your organization’s work is a good fit? Below, take a deeper dive into the issue areas eligible for funding this year and learn more about what we’re looking for.

Keep in mind: we are defining each of these issue areas expansively. These descriptions are intended to spark your imagination but do not capture all of the ideas that would be eligible for submission. We invite you to be creative as you reflect on how your organization might impact one or more of the issue areas.

Access to Tech and Creative Industry Employment 

Selected by voters, and sponsored by the Snap Foundation!

Los Angeles is home to thriving tech and creative sectors but securing employment in those areas can be more difficult for some groups. We are looking for projects that support access to tech and creative industry employment for groups that are traditionally underrepresented – including women, Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC), and LGBTQ+ Angelenos. This can be accomplished through internships, educational opportunities, training, networking, job placement, and more.

 Under this same umbrella, the Snap Foundation is seeking ideas that will specifically develop pathways to employment in the creative economy for underrepresented youth in Los Angeles, ages 6 to 24. The creative economy encompasses architecture, arts and crafts, design, fashion, film, video, photography, music, performing arts, publishing, research and development, game design, advertising, engineering, TV/radio, and other fields that draw on human ingenuity.

It is likely no surprise that affordable housing and homelessness received more votes than any other issue area – now for the third year in the row. These submissions might focus on improving the quantity and quality of affordable housing, assisting vulnerable tenants, or providing support to unhoused individuals.

Community safety encompasses any work that protects people from violence in all its forms and makes them feel safer. Submissions can support physical safety, such as policies that protect pedestrians and cyclists, or emotional safety, such as a program that deters bullying. This issue area includes not just the prevention of harassment, discrimination, and violence but also the active promotion of belonging, inclusion, and peace.

Sponsored by the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation and the Annenberg Foundation!

Meeting people’s basic needs is a crucial part of preventing homelessness. For this issue area, the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation seeks to fund organizations that are distributing fresh, healthy food to households at-risk of homelessness. There is a special preference for organizations working to scale and reach as much of Los Angeles as possible.

Additionally, within this same issue area, the Annenberg Foundation aims to fund projects that increase the availability, affordability, and nutritional value of food in underserved communities to address food insecurity. Priority will be given to organizations that provide food access for vulnerable populations, strengthen local food systems, support sustainable agriculture, and educate communities about nutrition and food preparation.

Submissions are also open for the third time to the green space, park access, and trees issue area. We welcome any ideas that increase the availability of, expand equitable access to, or encourage more frequent use of these outdoor areas for all residents of Los Angeles. We also welcome ideas that inspire creative interaction with these spaces.

Access to comprehensive, high-quality health care is essential for individual thriving and overall community well-being. We are looking for submissions that connect Angelenos to mental and physical health services, especially those from uninsured and underinsured populations.

Addressing income inequality comes in many forms, whether directly offering resources to those who need them or implementing projects, programs, and initiatives that address the root causes in our communities. This might include supporting first-generation college students, providing jobs to individuals who have been incarcerated, or giving direct cash payments to low-income families.

High-quality K-12 STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) education is essential. Submissions to this issue area can take the form of school-based curriculum support, after-school program activities, extracurricular opportunities, or other initiatives that encourage school-age students to succeed in STEAM.

– Sponsored by the Annenberg Foundation!

Annenberg Foundation seeks to support organizations dedicated to providing equitable access to care and mental health services for vulnerable populations. Applications to this issue area should represent community-based solutions that are inclusive and culturally sensitive. Annenberg aims to dismantle barriers to care and ensure that every Angeleno has the support necessary to achieve mental well-being.

Applications to the public transit issue area can address expanding access to, increasing the effectiveness of, or improving the quality of public transit options around Los Angeles. This issue area also encompasses ideas for enhancing multimodal access to public transit hubs through walking, biking, scooting, and more for all people, including those with disabilities. This is the third year that this issue area is in the top 10; however, in the previous two cycles, it was the issue area with the fewest applications.

For the first time, the social support networks issue area was voted as one of the top 10. Loneliness is on the rise across the United States and has even been described as an epidemic. We are looking for ideas to decrease isolation, promote interdependence, and encourage communal care. Think intergenerational relationships, mutual aid hubs, neighbors coming together, or supporting individuals reentering after incarceration.

Support for Foster and Systems-Impacted Youth

We are also looking for submissions that focus on improving the well-being of youth ages 24 and under who have been impacted by the mental and behavioral health system, the child welfare system, the youth justice system, or other similar systems. We are open to all channels of support – academic, professional, social, legal, personal, and beyond.

– Sponsored by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and R & S Kayne Foundation!

In partnership with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, we are looking for submissions from organizations working with young people to decrease income inequality, find quality living-wage jobs, or advance within careers. There is a special preference for organizations working with Opportunity Youth, those ages 16 to 24 and not in work or school.


And, in collaboration with the R&S Kayne Foundation, we are looking for submissions from organizations that foster economic inclusion through creating career pathways for NEET Youth (Not in Education, Employment or Training), young people ages 18 to 26 who are not in employment, education, or training. There is added value if the proposal is for a program, project, or initiative that incorporates youth power, co-designing with and embracing the input of young people.

If you have an idea to address one or more of these issue areas… 

The application will ask you to indicate the primary issue area you are submitting to, as well as any secondary issue areas your submission may impact.

We invite you to attend one of our upcoming Information Sessions –

– or join us at our open Office Hours, available 

You can also reach out to us via email any time at connect@la2050.org.

Introducing the Issues We’re Funding for 2024!

As you may have seen, each of the 615 submissions to the 2023 LA2050 Grants Challenge is now posted live at la2050.org.

Today, we’re taking a look back at how we arrived at this point.

we conducted widespread in-person voting for the first time

, in addition to online voting, between April 6th and May 8th, 2023. This year, voting was also offered in 10 of Los Angeles County’s most popular languages.

Voters were presented with five questions corresponding to the five LA2050 goal categories: connect, create, learn, live, and play. For each goal category, they selected the one or two issues that they felt were most significant and should be addressed through our grantmaking.

We were elated that more than 12,000 people responded to the call, together casting 80,000 total votes and shedding light on the issues that are top-of-mind for Angelenos.

final results from this year's Grants Challenge

 in each goal category, listed above, became eligible for funding through this year’s Grants Challenge. Across all of the categories, the three issues with the most total votes were 1. Affordable housing and homelessness; 2. Income inequality; and 3. Green space, park access and trees.

Grants Challenge voters represented an impressive 94 percent of Los Angeles County zip codes. The 15 neighborhoods with the most voters, in order, were:

Thank you to all who voted in this year's Grants Challenge and helped us to demonstrate the power of community grantmaking. We'll announce the winning organizations in September, so stay tuned!

LA2050 Blog

Now featuring 615 new submissions on the LA2050 Ideas Hub!