“The world is brimming with innovators whose ideas can shape our region and change the world.”
Based in Los Angeles, the Goldhirsh Foundation’s mission is to identify the brightest emerging talent and give them the tools to best support their success in three primary initiatives: opportunity, sustainability, and activation.
And speaking of talent, the foundation is led by President Tara Roth. Her background is in bridging the worlds of marketing, media, and philanthropy. Previously, she was the founding COO of GOOD, a global community of, by, and for pragmatic idealists working towards individual and collective progress, and a social strategy advisor.
Under Roth’s leadership, the Goldhirsh Foundation focuses on social innovation beyond the usual foundation investments and grantmaking—by creating events and mission-driven initiatives meant to bring together thinkers and doers across a spectrum of disciplines. The Goldhirsh Foundation has been making grants for almost a decade, but was re-launched in 2012 in Los Angeles, where the majority of its grant-making occurs.
Notably, the foundation has supported initiatives to improve the environment in Los Angeles. With Environment Now and LA Waterkeeper, the foundation funded one of the nation’s first cases to hold a municipality accountable for pollution carried by its stormwater discharges. Additionally, Roth directed funding to a partnership with Heal the Bay’s Compton Creek Trash Capture project and the Army Corps of Engineers. The foundation also supports the Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation and the Resnick Sustainability Institute at Caltech.
The Goldhirsh Foundation’s most ambitious initiative is LA2050, a movement to shape the future of California’s largest city: Los Angeles. LA2050 begins with a vision of a successful Los Angeles: a healthy, thriving, and desirable place to live. The foundation’s goal is to provide a framework to harness the area’s untapped potential and lay out a blueprint for creating an environment that fosters innovation and embraces community.
Having analyzed the major indicators of urban success: education, income and employment, health, public safety, housing, environmental quality, arts and cultural vitality, and social connectedness, the foundation’s team has formed a comprehensive picture of how Los Angeles performs along these indicators today and how the region will fare in the decades to come if it continues on the current path. For example, looking at the indicator of environmental quality, the foundation notes that “Los Angeles’ water sources are in danger, park access is lacking for many, and the poorest air quality is concentrated near low-income communities of color.”
But here, there is good news: “Indeed, the story of environmental quality in Los Angeles is one of tremendous progress. While there are still missed opportunities, the region’s environmental trajectory is promising.”
The goal of LA2050 is to challenge the status quo and demand more for the future, for the sake of the environment and other important indicators of a healthy, thriving city.
CLCV is thrilled to share that Tara Roth and the Goldhirsh Foundation are among the recipients of CLCV’s Southern California Environmental Leadership Awards, which will be held in Santa Monica on December 5th.
