Liberty Hill Foundation

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.

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

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.

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.