Donor Spotlight

Liberty Hill donor activists put their passion into action to help make Los Angeles a more just and equitable place for all. In this special Pride Month issue of News from the Frontlines, we’re dedicating our Donor Spotlight to a remarkable Liberty Hill donor activist and LGBTQ+ advocate whose story continues to inspire: Weston Milliken

Our 2022 Upton Sinclair Homecoming Celebration was a sold out success! After 3 long years apart, the Liberty Hill community came together like never before to celebrate the progressive victories and visionaries powering progress in L.A.

Liberty Hill Champion and Donor Activist Elizabeth Levitt Hirsch (Liz) is best known for her ability to connect and inspire people to achieve a shared vision through community engagement.

Donor Activist Dr. Sam Ho has been committed to social justice for more than six decades. Growing up in Hawaii, his activism started when he was just a youth protesting against atomic bomb testing in the South Pacific.

Longtime Donor Activist Jody Uttal and her husband Jeff Gold have been supporting Liberty Hill and the fight for a more just and equitable Los Angeles for nearly 30 years.

Liberty Hill Donor Activist and SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director, David White is no stranger to activism. He leads the world’s largest entertainment union, representing more than 160,000 diverse members worldwide who work in fields of film, television, commercials, music, video games and emerging media.

Rabbi Heather Miller and Melissa de la Rama fulfill multiple roles in their social justice work, showing up sometimes as volunteers, sometimes as donors. They bring social media savvy to campaigns for change, but are just as likely to show up in person at a rally.

Glen Dake seems to work on a vision of Los Angeles the way he works on a vision of a particular community garden or landscape—with lots of practical, hands-on effort. He supports nonprofit organizations, not only through Liberty Hill’s grantmaking, but also, with his sister Renee Dake Wilson and her husband Brian Wilson, through a donor advised fund housed at Liberty Hill. He has also served on Liberty Hill’s Environmental Justice Community Funding Board.

In his current job, people address him as “Your Honor.” The description of his old job—“complex litigation”—pretty much stops most of us in our small-talk tracks (“So, uh, is that fun?”). But it turns out that when Judge Dean Hansell talks about how his more than 20 years of social justice activism and civic engagement informs his philanthropy, his perspective is authentically, even stubbornly grassroots. He zeroes in on what individuals experience, on what stands in the way of justice for each person.

Liberty Hill is pleased to honor Elizabeth Levitt Hirsch with the Founders Award at our 2018 Upton Sinclair Awards Dinner on April 19.