LA2050 is a community-driven initiative of the Goldhirsh Foundation, working to build a better future for Los Angeles through civic participation, information sharing, data-informed goals, and participatory grantmaking.
We’re proud stewards of this movement wherein Angelenos shape the future of their communities by identifying their priorities and advancing grassroots solutions. We’re engaged with, in-person and across digital platforms, a multitude of communities, organizations, and individuals. For example, each year the LA2050 Grants Challenge invites Angelenos to vote on what issues matter most. More than 1,000,000 votes have been cast during the history of the Grants Challenge, including 140,000 this year. (See results section, below.)
The public’s votes set LA2050’s funding priorities, such as affordable housing and homelessness, and green space, park access, and trees. Additionally, last year, a coalition of 10 philanthropic funding partners provided $3 million in grants to 68 different groups. LA2050 then puts out an open call for nonprofit organizations, social enterprises, and government agencies to submit proposals that make Los Angeles the best place to live, learn, create, play, and connect. This year, a record-breaking 1,200 new ideas arrived, marking an all-time total of 5,164, all of which are available on LA2050.org, in the “LA2050 Ideas Hub” database. This is searchable and publicly accessible.
For 2025, we expanded engagement across even more neighborhoods and online platforms, developing a larger team of LA2050 Youth Ambassadors, and increasing the number of impact organizations serving as outreach partners.
LA2050’s platforms and personnel are known for sharing news and information, offering free services, collaborating with media outlets, foundations, nonprofits, and government institutions. Our prominent Grants Challenge is an innovative model for participatory grantmaking. This year’s LA2050 Grants Challenge was themed “LA Together” and sought to unify Angelenos around shared priorities. When the historic wildfires hit our region, this became especially important.
To exceed the 105,000 public votes from last year’s Grants Challenge, we expanded our network of Youth Ambassadors – young Angelenos ages 14 to 24, who drive positive change in the Los Angeles region through civic engagement and leadership development. We enlarged our network outreach partners from community groups and added a new funding partner to deliver even greater resources to grantees and community-based organizations.
We communicated with Angelenos about the Grants Challenge period in a wide range of ways. We emailed newsletters to our 60,000 subscribers. Our open rate of 51% is twice the industry average. On TikTok and Instagram, we created a video series called “What’s Your Issue, LA?”, wherein passersby shared their ideas for how LA could improve. We also held a ticket giveaway for Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s homecoming tour.
Throughout the rest of the year, we stayed engaged with Angelenos through storytelling and providing resources that help them better understand and shape the region they love. This included candid Q&As with grassroots leaders; “Fave Fives,” where we ask impactful Angelenos to share their favorite Los Angeles spots; a social impact gift guide; volunteer service guides; and a Giving Tuesday celebration for nonprofit staff.
During the devastating Los Angeles fires in January, LA2050 quickly researched, compiled, published, and continued to update a pair of digital guides, among the first distributed to the public. One was full of resources and information for people directly affected by the disasters. The other was full of ways to help. Together, these resources received more than 15,000 social media engagements and were shared widely, including by Ariana Grande to her 375 million Instagram followers. LA2050’s Instagram account became home to people sharing stories of community heroes: restaurants serving food to first responders, a nine-year-old gathering donations to help her neighborhood skate shop, and a woman who opened donation centers with medical supplies for people with disabilities.
LA2050’s commitment to service includes maintaining a popular online jobs board with available positions in the impact community, and an events page filled with free community activities. We have an AI executive-in-residence who delivers training, workshops, and one–on-one consulting, all free, to nonprofit organizations that told us in surveys that they needed help. In years past, we’ve provided similar resources for social media, development, and public relations.
This year’s LA2050 Grants Challenge broke records across the board. More than 140,000 votes were cast, up 35% from last year. Voting took place in 12 languages and from 96% of LA County ZIP codes. Once the public survey period closed, nonprofit organizations, social enterprises, and government agencies submitted approximately 1,200 proposals in the 10 issue areas selected by the public. This is a nearly 50% increase from two years ago.
With just seven full-time staff members and a pair of fellows, LA2050 coordinated with a record-breaking 127 outreach partners, including foundations, nonprofits, and government agencies. We welcomed our largest-ever cohort of LA2050 Youth Ambassadors: 330 young people (aged 14 to 24), from 145 communities. They developed skills in virtual learning sessions on philanthropy, organizing, and civic engagement, forging connections with peers across the region. They also shared their “visions for LA” with our social audience.
Our social and website channels grew, with a 17% increase in social media followers and a 182% spike in impressions. LA2050.org experienced a 43% growth in users, attracting 141,000 new visitors. Engagement on our website and socials, and our popular newsletter, highlighted our nonprofit Jobs Board, event listings, and Ideas Hub, which grew to a new high of 5,164 community-generated ideas for a better LA. Also on the website: 55 metrics to track LA’s progress across shared goals.