Liberty Hill Field Notes
Fall 2026
Welcome to Liberty Hill Field Notes—your source for stories, updates, and highlights from Liberty Hill Foundation.
Welcome to the Fall 2026 issue of Liberty Hill Field Notes, our guide for foundations investing in social justice and community power. In each issue, we share what we are seeing on the ground across Los Angeles, highlight emerging issues and opportunities, and offer ideas for how philanthropy can move resources, strengthen movements, and support lasting systems change. Read on for timely stories, emerging opportunities, and lessons from the field designed to help funders understand where support is needed now, and what becomes possible when philanthropy invests in community leadership. This and so much more!
We will not rest until society provides justice and equality for all.
This e-publication will provide you with insight into our work in Los Angeles and bring you behind the scenes of the fights for Youth and Transformative Justice, LGBTQ and Gender Justice, Environmental and Climate Justice, and Economic and Housing Justice here in Los Angeles.
Fall 2026
Liberty Hill Field Notes
Before They Were Anchor Organizations, Someone Had to Believe in Them
Long before shaping public policy, Los Angeles’ most influential community organizations—like CHIRLA and Community Coalition—started as small groups lacking institutional funding. Historically, Liberty Hill invested in these grassroots leaders early. Today, through its Fund for Change, the foundation is recommitting to this vital role by investing $2 million over three years into 17 emerging "Rising Activist" organizations, combining multiyear funding with coaching, while sharing decision-making power to help today’s grassroots groups become tomorrow’s indispensable anchor institutions.
Winning the Vote Was Only the Beginning: What Measure J—and Now Measure E—Can Teach Philanthropy About Lasting Change
L.A. County’s Measure J successfully funneled hundreds of millions of public dollars back into local communities, but its six-year implementation battle proves that passing a policy is only the first step. While government can fund community safety at scale, flexible philanthropy remains indispensable to support the frontline organizing, legal defense, and accountability needed to protect voter mandates. With the upcoming Measure E asking voters to safeguard these hard-won community investments, sustained funding for movement infrastructure is more critical than ever.
Black Permanency is about Staying Power
Harm to Black communities was built and endured over generations, and it cannot be undone with business as usual. Instead, funders must pivot to a Black Permanency framework. This model focuses on funding long-term staying power—investing deeply in institutional infrastructure, leadership, financial reserves, and organizing capacity so Black Angelenos can remain rooted and shape their own futures across generations.
Why Fund Los Angeles? Because What Happens Here Rarely Stays Here
Funders often assume Los Angeles has enough resources to take care of itself. In reality, profound inequities persist, leaving the grassroots groups closest to the ground without the long-term capital needed to protect progress and drive real impact. As a proven laboratory for national shifts in environmental justice and immigrant rights, LA shouldn't be bypassed. Investing in its movement infrastructure isn't just a local fix, it's a strategic move that shapes nationwide change.