LA2050 Grants Challenge Reveals Key Impact Trends and Insights From 2026

The results are in: Goldhirsh Foundation’s LA2050 initiative has released the Submissions Report from the 2026 LA2050 Grants Challenge.

The Submissions Report dives into the common themes, proposals, and voting results LA2050 saw in 2026 – and what that says about today’s LA.

Earlier this year, more than 110, 000 votes were cast by 17,000 Angelenos in the Grants Challenge for the issues that mattered most to them, spanning 92% of LA County ZIP codes and 12 languages, marking a steady sense of civic participation and passion amongst the people of Los Angeles.

Community organizations responded in turn: after introducing a two-part submission process, the Grants Challenge received 1,100+ proposals, addressing the public’s top issues with innovative ideas to make Los Angeles the best place to connect, create, learn, live, and play.

The social impact sector is looking ahead to the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics, preparing for expansion opportunities and neighborhood challenges alike. There’s a growing emphasis on multidimensional support, and youth-focused programs are shifting towards tangible career pathways. And for the fifth year in a row, Angelenos chose affordable housing and homelessness as their top priority; in response, applicants came up with a whole host of solutions, ranging from safe overnight parking, to displacement intervention programs, to a neighborhood homeless coalition, and more.

The Submissions Report additionally reveals several common themes in how applicants are approaching impact. For 2026, proposals trended towards a people-first approach, building on past leverage and strengthening existing programs to create lasting change.

Among many trends, this year’s applications are:

• Rooted in relationships: Centering person-to-person relationships, with an emphasis on trust, mentorship, shared experience, and belonging.
• Learning from experience: Drawing on past successes and lessons to refine and deepen the programs that work.
• Ensuring generational change: Focusing on long-term transformation by investing at critical points to change the future of families and communities.

Read the full breakdown, from voting trends to submission insights, in the 2026 Submissions Report here. Check out our past Submissions Reports, detailing the 12 years of the Los Angeles social impact landscape, here.