Liberty Hill Foundation Marks 50 Years of Solidarity and Progress, Celebrating Five Decades of Building Community Power in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, May 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Liberty Hill Foundation, one of Los Angeles' leading social justice foundations, is marking its 50th anniversary in 2026 at a time when communities across Los Angeles are facing deep challenges and new possibilities for change. Founded in 1976, Liberty Hill has helped power grassroots organizing that has reshaped Los Angeles across areas of racial justice, youth justice, housing justice, immigrant rights, environmental justice, LGBTQ+ and gender justice, and civic participation.

Over the past 50 years, Liberty Hill has grown from a bold philanthropic experiment into a lasting movement institution—bringing together community partners, funders, donors, and public-sector allies to help turn community-led solutions into lasting change—rooted in a core belief: the people closest to injustice should be closest to the power needed to change it.

"Liberty Hill was founded on the idea that philanthropy should do more than respond to inequality, it should help build the power to transform it," said Shane Murphy Goldsmith, President & CEO of Liberty Hill Foundation. "As we mark 50 years of solidarity and progress, we are honoring the organizers, donor-activists, community partners, and movement leaders who built this legacy. We are also recommitting ourselves to the future—to a Los Angeles where justice, dignity, and opportunity are shaped by the leadership of those closest to the challenges local communities face."

From its early participatory grantmaking model and Community Funding Board to more recent work through its Agenda for a Just Future to advance youth development, housing stability, and environmental justice, Liberty Hill has consistently backed frontline leaders and community power as drivers of long-term systems change. That long-standing commitment has made Liberty Hill a trusted partner to community organizations across Los Angeles.

"For 50 years, Liberty Hill has been a leader in community-centered, justice-oriented philanthropy," said Joanna S. Jackson, President & CEO of the Weingart Foundation. "Their commitment to grassroots leaders, organizers, and community-led movements has influenced the philanthropic landscape in Southern California and beyond. At a time when communities are navigating both urgent challenges and new possibilities, their legacy and work remind us that lasting social change must be driven by those closest to the issues and philanthropy done right can help fuel that change."

Today, Liberty Hill continues that work through initiatives focused on ending youth incarceration as we know it, fighting for housing justice, eliminating toxic neighborhood oil drilling, and strengthening the movement infrastructure needed for communities to thrive. Its work has helped support the development of one of the nation's most significant youth development systems, alongside major investments in housing stability, environmental justice, and participatory grantmaking, reflecting a long-term commitment to funding the frontlines and building lasting community power.

"Liberty Hill has deeply influenced both philanthropy and Los Angeles by living out a simple but powerful idea: change, not charity," said Manuel Pastor, Director of the Equity Research Institute at USC. "For 50 years, it has invested in grassroots leaders, creative experiments, and the kind of community power that makes real systems change possible. Liberty Hill understands that philanthropy itself must be organized — that donors and institutions need to be brought into relationship with grassroots leadership. That combination of bold ambition, deep trust, and willingness to take risks is part of what makes Liberty Hill so important."

Liberty Hill's 50th anniversary celebration will continue throughout 2026, including at its annual Upton Sinclair Dinner on May 12th, which this year will honor the people, movements, and partners who have shaped Liberty Hill's first 50 years—and those building what comes next.

About Liberty Hill Foundation
Liberty Hill Foundation is a laboratory for social change philanthropy. We leverage the power of community organizers, donor activists, and allies to advance social justice through strategic investment in grants, leadership training, and campaigns. We envision a society in which all people have a powerful voice, including those currently shut out of our democracy, people cut off from opportunities because of their skin color, gender or sexual orientation, where they live, or where they were born. We will not rest until society provides justice and equity for all.

SOURCE Liberty Hill Foundation