Public Voting Begins Online in the My LA2050 Grants Challenge!

25 nonprofit organizations will share $1M+ in grants

LOS ANGELES, JUNE 21 --

You know how some people say that real change can't be accomplished just by going online and clicking a few buttons? Well, here's one instance where you truly can just read, click, and make a difference.

Today, public voting begins in the 2021 My LA2050 Grants Challenge. Voting continues through June 28 at 5pm PT. (https://challenge.la2050.org/vote/)

Based on the results, LA2050, an initiative of the Goldhirsh Foundation, will award a total of $1 million in grants among 25 outstanding Los Angeles area non-profit organizations and social enterprises. The 25 finalists are guaranteed to receive at least $10,000 and have the opportunity to win as much as $100,000 to implement their ideas to make the Los Angeles region a better place.

This is the eighth year of the My LA2050 Grants Challenge. Over previous cycles, more than 1,800 proposals have been submitted (http://archive.la2050.org), and $10.5 million has been distributed as a direct result, plus another $6.5 million indirectly.

Not surprisingly given the levels of pain, loss, and trauma Los Angeles and much of the world has experienced during the past 12+ months, this year there were a record 320 submissions.

“To see so much hopefulness and healing represented by the finalists is humbling and inspiring," said Tara Roth, President of the Goldhirsh Foundation and LA2050. “We honor and celebrate all of them, and it is our hope that the voting public use this as an opportunity to learn more about their work."

Also brand new this year to the My LA2050 Grants Challenge:

• Voting and other information is available in Spanish: https://es-challenge.la2050.org/.
• Each of the 25 finalists received a $1,000 stipend to use as they please for their “get out the vote" efforts. This helps level the digital playing field for smaller organizations that don't have in-house communications capacity.

(Note to media: We've been told this is a fascinating stand-alone story. We are happy to assist by sharing ways the money is spent, what the results are, etc.)

Here are the 25 finalists in the 2021 My LA2050 Grants Challenge:

CONNECT category: Center for Restorative Justice Works, Children Now, human-I-T, Los Angeles Center for Law & Justice, and The Civics Center.

CREATE category: Covenant House California, Fund for Guaranteed Income, Las Fotos Project, On The Go LA, and People's Pottery Project

LEARN category: Alliance in Mentorship / MiMentor, DIY Girls, New Earth, Rivet School, and SEED School of Los Angeles.

LIVE category: City Plants, Healing California, Shower of Hope, Western Center on Law and Poverty, and Westside Pacific Villages.

PLAY category: Angel City Sports, CicLAvia, Color the Water, East Side Riders Bike Club, and Sloane Stephens Foundation.

SVP Los Angeles serves as this year's My LA2050 Grants Challenge evaluation partner; and Snap Foundation and the Annenberg Foundation will be awarding additional prizes to this year's submitters as funding partners.

ABOUT LA2050

LA2050 (www.la2050.org) is an initiative driving and tracking progress toward a shared vision for the future of Los Angeles. We are centered around five unique goals that in 2050 Los Angeles will be the best place to learn, create, play, connect, and live. Connect with @LA2050 on Twitter, IG, FB, and LI, and sign up to receive our newsletter, which includes social impact job listings and events.

ABOUT GOLDHIRSH FOUNDATION

At the Goldhirsh Foundation, (www.goldhirshfoundation.org), we connect the dots between the best emerging innovations and the financial, social, and human capital to make them thrive.