Meet the 2025 Winners
Together with our funding partners, we are granting nearly $3 million to 55 organizations making LA better!
CHECK THEM OUT
Making LA Better, Together!
The LA2050 Grants Challenge is an open call for ideas to make Los Angeles County the best place to connect, create, learn, live, and play. Since 2013, we’ve given $20+ million in grants to local impact organizations and supported hundreds of winning ideas to make our region better for all.
So, how did the 2025 Grants Challenge work? First, more than 21,000 Angelenos cast nearly 140,000 votes for the issues that matter most to them. Then, we opened applications to organizations with ideas to address the top-voted issues. Now, our collaborative of 12 funders is proud to introduce the 55 organizations receiving grant awards.
Key Dates
March 12 - April 18, 2025
Issue area voting
April 28, 2025
Results announced
April 28 - June 6, 2025
Grant applications open
June 9 - October 8, 2025
Submission evaluation
October 8, 2025
Grant recipients announced
About the LA2050 Grants Challenge
LA2050 is a community-guided initiative, operated by the Goldhirsh Foundation, driving and tracking progress toward a shared vision for the future of LA.
Our most significant program is the LA2050 Grants Challenge – an annual call for ideas to make LA the best place to connect, learn, live, play, and create. Since 2013, we have launched 11 cycles of the Grants Challenge, giving more than $20 million to hundreds of local impact organizations, with the help of hundreds of thousands of people casting votes in support.
So, how did the 2025 Grants Challenge work? First, more than 21,000 Angelenos cast nearly 140,000 votes for the issues that matter most to them. Then, we opened applications to organizations with ideas to address the top-voted issues. Now, our collaborative of 12 funders is proud to introduce the 55 organizations receiving grant awards.
LA2050 Goals
Together with the LA2050 community, we developed five goals for Los Angeles in the year 2050 – to make Los Angeles the best place to connect, create, learn, live, and play.
The goals were shaped through the engagement of tens of thousands of Angelenos and input from experts, advisors, and partners. Each of the goals is supported by a set of metrics that, taken together, define what it will mean for us to achieve success.
LEARN
By the year 2050, the education system in Los Angeles will be well-resourced and culturally-responsive. All children will have access to early education programs and all families will be engaged in their student’s learning. Students will graduate college- and career-ready, equipped to thrive in the workforce of the future. Our higher education facilities will advance research and spur innovation.
CREATE
By the year 2050, Los Angeles will be an international leader in innovation across sectors. We will play host to the largest concentration of working artists and high-quality arts establishments. We will be a center for entrepreneurial activity, creating jobs and generating wealth for a flexible, talented, and inclusive workforce. Our business community will reflect the diversity of our region, enhancing our national and international opportunities.
PLAY
By the year 2050, people from across Los Angeles will live in close proximity to vibrant park space and have easy access to high-quality, sustainable spaces for recreation. We will get active, explore the outdoors, and appreciate our natural environment. All residents will feel a sense of safety and belonging in their communities.
CONNECT
By the year 2050, Los Angeles will be the most civically engaged region in the United States, with abundant platforms for residents to voice their opinions and influence elected officials and other decision-makers. Our region’s voting rates and volunteerism will lead the nation. An expanded, accessible transportation network will facilitate the easy flow of people and ideas.
LIVE
By the year 2050, Los Angeles will have the nation’s lowest poverty rate and income inequality. All families will have access to fresh and healthy food, high-quality health care, and safe housing, no matter where they live or how much money they make. Our communities will enjoy the benefits of a sustainable environment, from clear skies to clean water.
2025
These participants have been awarded grants of $75,000, access to human capital, and support from LA2050.
Breaking the Intergenerational Cycle of Foster Care
Children's Law Center of California
Upskilling In-Home Supportive Services Workers through Emergency and Disaster Readiness Training
Center for Caregiver Advancement
Community Wealth is Healthy People
The Shaw Community Transformation Corporation dba Creating Justice LA
Union Station Eaton Fire Housing Assistance Program
Union Station Homeless Services
Promoting Justice and Healing
Refugee Children Center
Strengthening LA's Green Spaces through Community Composting
LA Compost
Neococo Empowerment and Funding Program
Neococo Collective
Building Up STEAM: Empowering LA’s Chronically Ill Youth
CoachArt
Connecting San Pedro’s Future by Trolley
San Pedro Property Owner's Alliance / Downtown San Pedro Community Foundation
Increasing Access to Wildland Firefighter Careers
The Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program (FFRP)
2025 Grants Challenge Runners Up
These participants have been awarded $50,000, access to human capital, and support from LA2050.
Alliance for a Just and Thriving Restaurant Industry
Korean Immigrant Workers Advocates Of Southern California (KIWA)
Feeding East Los Angeles: Part Two
Eastmont Community Center
Diverse Educators Transforming Education
Watts of Power Foundation
From Food Deserts to Food Education
Lunch Bunch Community Foundation
Grounds for Change: Employing the Unhoused
Street Company
Partner Awards
Selected by our generous Funding Partners
Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation
Elbaz Family Foundation
Snap Foundation
R&S Kayne Foundation
John N. Calley Foundation
Fox Foundation
Goldhirsh Foundation, with support from Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
Goldhirsh Foundation, with support from The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation
Brunswick Foundation
Goldhirsh Foundation, with support from OpenAI Academy
LA2050 Grantees
Since 2013, we’ve supported hundreds of ideas moving LA toward a brighter future.
Funding Partners
The Goldhirsh Foundation, founder and organizer of the LA2050 Grants Challenge, providing $1 million in grant funds to organizations working on the top-voted issue areas.
Evaluation Partner
Social Justice Partners Los Angeles (SJPLA), serving as our external evaluation partner. SJP is a membership organization that connects community leaders to nonprofits to tackle Los Angeles’ toughest challenges. All proposals are reviewed, scored, and evaluated by members of SJPLA.
Media Partners
