Liberty Hill Foundation
Change, Not Charity
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Liberty Hill is a public foundation in Los Angeles that advances movements for social change through a unique combination of grants, leadership training and alliance-building. Liberty Hill envisions a society built on racial, economic, environmental and social justice in which all people have a powerful voice, including those currently shut out of our democracy, people cut off from opportunities because they are poor, because of their skin color, because of their gender or sexual orientation, because of where they live, or where they were born. For more than 40 years, Liberty Hill has been Los Angeles’ epicenter for social justice, incubating cutting-edge social movements, transforming neighborhoods and empowering the leaders of tomorrow.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Liberty Hill Foundation Programs
Liberty Hill's Fund for Change provides grants to emerging and developing community-based organizations that work for social, racial, and economic justice. It helps groups establish themselves to become effective organizers through constituency building, leadership and outreach. Grants are targeted to organizations that have a proven track record, mature leadership, and a solid constituency. The goal of the fund is to help these organizations build solid institutions.
Environmental Justice Fund: This fund makes grants to grassroots organizations that are working to decrease exposure to toxic substances in neighborhoods and workplaces, particularly in communities of color and low-income areas. Groups engaged in community organizing, applied research, policy advocacy, litigation, or popular education are eligible.
LGBT Equality Fund: This fund provides critical support to new or ongoing projects addressing the issues of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) communities. Grants are targeted to groups actively working for institutional, policy, or public opinion changes that improve LGBT life and well-being and build alliances between LGBT and straight communities.
Donor Advised Funds: Supports special interests of individual donors with the professional assistance of Liberty Hill staff.
Where we work
External reviews

Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Liberty Hill supports grassroots organizers by building power in communities of color most impacted by systemic oppression, while advancing racial, economic, environmental, and LGBTQ equity and justice. We focus our efforts on Los Angeles County because we understand that what happens in L.A. influences the nation. From early fights for LGBTQ equality, to our current Agenda for a Just Future—and its initiatives to eliminate neighborhood oil drilling, fight for a roof over every head and end youth incarceration as we know it—Liberty Hill has championed and funded changemakers, visionaries and fighters for justice for more than 40 years.
We seek to build the power of grassroots community organizing groups to win significant social change and expand foundations' understanding and support of social change through community organizing.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Social justice non-profits are steadily building their capacity to wage powerful campaigns to create systemic change. Liberty Hill has developed strong programming to accelerate these capacity-building and social change efforts while using donor-advised grants to increase our support to social justice organizations. The key challenge before us is to significantly increase our financial strength in order to increase our impact. It is more important than ever to increase the base of support for social change.
Our Focus is to position Liberty Hill Foundation for greater impact and growth.
We will do this by:
Accelerating change through greater program impact
1. Engage our community advisors more deeply
2. Support the Wally Marks Leadership Institute to create more social change leaders
3. Maximize our impact by supporting anchor/expansion organizations
4. Invest in and lead policy change efforts and other campaigns
5. Continue investing in seed organizations as well as new and emerging issues
1. Continue to provide educational opportunities for current and potential donors and host events on the fundamentals of giving
2. Deepen efforts to solicit and support new donor advised funds, giving circles, scholarship programs and other restricted funds
3. Directly engage donors with our programs
4. Deepen engagement and increase donor organizing and activism
5. Expand outreach and refine the donor experience through strategic communications
Building our income and diversifying our donor base
1. Identify and cultivate new donors and increase giving from current donors
2. Develop a corporate/small business outreach strategy
3. Expand our major gifts and monthly giving programs
4. Launch a planned giving program
5. Prospect new foundation partners
Increasing awareness of Liberty Hill Foundation and our grantees
1. Conduct audience research in order to make strategic marketing investments
2. Identify new ways to articulate and market our community-centered philanthropy approach
3. Explore different approaches to capture and disseminate stories of our own and our grantees’ impact
4. Create strong, passionate, well-educated “brand ambassadors”
5. Use research, writing and publications to enhance our reputation and influence
Strengthening our board and staff capacity
1. Increase the size, diversity, capacity to fundraise and political influence of our board
2. Increase the diversity and build the capacity of our staff
3. Systematically integrate research and development and evaluation into our work
4. Further strengthen the integration of our programs and departments
5. Create a quality service-oriented culture based on the values of flexibility, nimbleness, professionalization, customization, and authenticity
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Liberty Hill Foundation is uniquely positioned to dramatically increase the resources needed to fuel the ecosystem of social change in Los Angeles.
Liberty Hill has a strong history of investments that lead to results. Our work is consistently driven by grassroots organizers’ assessments of community needs and assets, opportunities and potential areas for progress. Liberty Hill's investment in emerging organizations five, ten and twenty years ago are now paying off in movements that are leading to positive change across the region.
Liberty Hill’s nimble, innovative approach is based on current conditions, trusting relationships, and our deep understanding of Los Angeles social movements. Since it is impossible to predict political changes, we build organizers’ skills, relationships, tools, systems and infrastructure so they are in place and ready to seize political opportunities when they arise. This approach results in long-term impact.
We build a diverse ecosystem of organizations to tackle today’s issues and stand ready for tomorrow’s movements. We use information from the frontlines of community change to continuously revise and prioritize specific issues to address. With an engaged Community Funding Board and staff with their fingers on the pulse of community change, Liberty Hill retains the flexibility to direct its resources to the efforts that will result in the greatest good, balancing near-term impact and long-term capacity.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Our Vision is to build the power of grassroots community organizing groups to win significant social change, build the long-term capacity for large scale movement building and expand the skills and innovative approaches of grassroots community organizers and other changemakers.
Secure victories that advance our Agenda for a Just Future goals to end youth incarceration as we know it, fight for a roof over every head, and eliminate neighborhood oil drilling.
1. $5 million in new state resources for CA Youth Reinvestment Fund.
2. Passed L.A. County Sustainability Plan
3. Passed two permanent rent control & eviction policies in L.A. County and Inglewood.
Grantees secured more than 30 new policy victories in 2019 alone with support from Liberty Hill Foundation. Highlights include:
1. Legalized Street Vending
2. L.A. City announced Green New Deal
3. LAUSD funded 30 Community Schools
4. Measure WW to reduce harassment and workloads for more than 3,000 housekeepers
Liberty Hill awarded more than $7 million in grants to social change organizations.
Funded 12 seed organizations engaged in community organizing.
Launch three public-private partnerships.
Train more than 1,800 through in-depth training and public events.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Liberty Hill Foundation
Board of directorsas of 10/11/2023
Amelia Williamson,
Founder, AWA Consults
Jared Rivera
Political Director, SEIU Local 2015
Term: 2019 -
Paula Litt
Community Activist
Amelia Williamson
AWA Consults
Mark Smith
Vice President, Senior Lead WMG Relationship Manager,Bank of the West
Mary Ann Braubach
Documentary Filmmaker and Film Producer
Marta Ferro
President of Starfish Impact, Inc.
Paul Hernandez
Chief Strategy Officer, Fenton Communications
Jon Christensen
Adjunct Asst. Professor, UCLA
Angel Roberson-Daniels
Executive Director, The Angell Foundation
Sarah Pillsbury
Board Emeritus, Advisory Board, Pat Brown Institute, Cal State LA
Jared Rivera
Political Director, SEIU Local 2015
Tim Silard
President, Rosenberg Foundation
Mitchell Singer
Principal, Singer Philanthropy
Belen Vargas
Associate Vice President for Operations, Cal State LA
Jennifer Ito
Research Director, USC Equity Research Institute
Julie Hermelin
Managing Partner, Gutsy Media and Wake Up & Vote
Shimica Gaskins
President & CEO of GRACE/End Child Poverty CA
Veronica Flores
CEO, Community Health Councils
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as: