Goldhirsh Foundation

Goldhirsh Foundation's approach is place-based, pragmatic-idealist, and talent-centric. The foundation is explicitly built around LA2050, a multi-decade initiative driving progress toward a shared vision for Los Angeles across eight indicators (education, income/employment, health, public safety, housing, environmental quality, arts/cultural vitality, social connectedness) and five action goals: LA as the best place to LEARN, CREATE, PLAY, CONNECT, LIVE. Two intake tracks exist. (1) The LA2050 Grants Challenge — an open, community-voted competition where Angelenos help choose winners — is the most accessible path and the one most applicants should target; in 2024 the Challenge distributed more than $2M to LA nonprofits with partner-foundation support. (2) Direct Investments & Grantmaking is more curated and flows to emerging innovations, social entrepreneurs, and civic-tech projects — with wraparound support (communications, design, event space, capacity) treated as equally important as dollars. Alignment signals: specific measurable impact on one of the five LA2050 goals; clear talent/leadership story; willingness to engage the LA2050 community-voting process and public storytelling.

The flagship LA2050 Grants Challenge awarded more than $2,000,000 across multiple LA-serving nonprofits in 2024, with partner-foundation co-funding. Individual Grants Challenge awards have historically ranged from $25,000 to $100,000 per winning organization, with category winners announced across the five goals (Learn, Create, Play, Connect, Live). Direct Investments & Grantmaking amounts are not publicly scheduled but historically cluster at $25K-$250K per initiative, often pairing cash with in-kind support (communications training, event/meeting space, design assistance, financial capital development). Geographic focus is overwhelmingly Los Angeles County — every published grantee list is LA-based, and the foundation's offices are in Pacific Palisades (528 Palisades Dr, PO Box #559, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272). Winners span city agencies (LA Sanitation & Environment, LA Dept of Recreation and Parks), CBOs (Homeboy Industries, Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, Mission Asset Fund), arts orgs (Hammer Museum, 826LA, Las Fotos Project), and civic-tech (Public Matters, CicLAvia). Additional: a Costa Rica residencies program manager is on staff, suggesting a small international residencies program outside the core LA grantmaking.

Against peers in the LA place-based philanthropy space and among the rare "foundation as platform + grants challenge" operators nationally, Goldhirsh is distinctive for its public-voting intake, 100% mission-aligned investment posture, and unusually large in-house comms/design capability.

Goldhirsh is smaller in endowment than most named LA peers but punches above its weight via the LA2050 Grants Challenge platform, which pools partner capital and generates public engagement via voting. In 2024 it named an all-female investment committee — reported by the foundation as believed to be the first such committee at a foundation of its size — making it unusual among ~$40M-$60M foundations on governance as well.

In 2024, the Goldhirsh Foundation named a new, all-female investment committee, which the foundation describes as believed to be the first all-female investment committee at a foundation of its size and scope — a notable governance signal. Also in 2024, the LA2050 Grants Challenge distributed more than $2 million to Los Angeles nonprofits with partner-foundation co-funding. President Tara Roth was named one of the LA Business Journal's 20 Most Influential Civic Leaders in Los Angeles and one of the Most Influential 500 People in 2024. Leadership continuity remains strong: Tara Roth (President, with COO/GOOD/New Schools Venture Fund/Oxford MBA Skoll scholar background), Ben Goldhirsh (Chairman & co-founder, Matter Neuroscience; GOOD and Upworthy roots), Claire Hoffman (Director), Jeremy Rosenberg (Director of Communications), LeAnn Kelch Melendez (Director of Grants and Programs), Carla Fuentes (Social Innovation Manager), Jake Bishop (Special Projects Manager), Alejandra Soler (Costa Rica residencies), and Maya Chen (Social Media & Communications Coordinator). The foundation is fully 100% mission-aligned on both programmatic and investment capital — a stated strategic commitment.

1) Target the LA2050 Grants Challenge first — this is the primary open path. Map your project to exactly one of the five goals (LEARN, CREATE, PLAY, CONNECT, LIVE) and propose a single, measurable outcome that advances one of LA2050's 60+ tracked quality-of-life metrics. 2) Your proposal must be LA-based and serve Angelenos. Out-of-region applicants should not apply — the foundation's place-based mandate is explicit. 3) Because the Challenge is community-voted, build your voter-activation plan into the proposal: email lists, social networks, partner CBOs who will turn out votes. Strong proposals with no voter mobilization routinely lose to weaker proposals with voter mobilization. 4) Lead with a named "emerging talent" or social entrepreneur at your org; Goldhirsh's entire theory is "identify brightest emerging talent and give them tools." A project without a clearly profiled leader reads flat. 5) Include a request for wraparound support beyond cash — communications coaching, event/meeting space, design help — this signals you understand Goldhirsh's value-add and engages LeAnn Kelch Melendez (Director of Grants and Programs) and Jeremy Rosenberg (Director of Communications). 6) For direct investments (outside the Challenge), a warm introduction is typically required. Use the LA civic network (Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy LA, AltaSea, LA civic boards) to reach Tara Roth or the investment committee. 7) Use storytelling-ready collateral — Goldhirsh prioritizes narrative and public storytelling heavily.