A Year of Struggle & Progress
2020 Impact Report
From Protest to Power
A Year of Struggle & Progress
2020 Impact Report
The 2020 Impact Report details the progress we made in the face of a global pandemic and a national reckoning on racial justice. We hope you will be proud of what we were able to accomplish together and inspired by the fighting spirit that keeps the fires of justice burning through even the darkest of times.
Mission
Liberty Hill 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.
Liberty Hill is the Home for Progressive Los Angeles
Our Vision
Liberty Hill envisions a society in which all people have a powerful voice, including those currently shut out of our democracy, people cut off from opportunities because they are poor, because of their skin color, because of
their gender or sexual orientation, because of where they live, or where they were born.
We will not rest until society provides justice and equality for all.
A Note from Shane
Shane Murphy Goldsmith
President/CEO
Liberty Hill Foundation
As we look back on 2020—a generation-defining year that changed all of our lives in a profound way—I want to take a moment to acknowledge the incredible resilience and strength of the Liberty Hill community. Through a global pandemic that threatened both lives and livelihoods, and a national uprising for racial justice that challenged and ultimately changed hearts, minds, and laws—the fight for social justice has continued.
And you have been with us through it all.
This is the moment Liberty Hill was created to meet. Every step from our founding more than 40 years ago has prepared us to rise to the challenge of this time together—a community of activists, leaders, donors, visionaries, and fighters for justice all united in a common goal to advance social justice and equity.
$15M+
Grants Awarded
10
New Commissioners Appointed in L.A
90
Organizations Built Capacity
255
New Donor Activists
1000+
Grants Distributed
15
Rising Activist Organizations Funded
255+
Leadership Institute Participants
1500+
Individual Gifts to Liberty Hill
Silvia Venegas
Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment
The toughest fighters are sometimes the most unassuming. Local activist Silvia Venegas never thought she would become one of the faces of a movement asserting that housing is a human right. But when a corporate landlord tried to take possession of her home, Silvia fought back with the help of Liberty Hill grantee partner The Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), one of California’s leading tenant rights organizations.
“I never expected someone to knock on my door and tell me we just bought your home at an auction. I was in the darkest moment of my life not knowing where to turn,” said Silvia. “But then I started hearing about ACCE and their victory stories. It gave me hope. I found out I wasn’t alone.”
The only way we are truly going to be able to maintain a roof over every head is by uniting.
Silvia Venegas
David Turner
Brothers, Sons, Selves Coalition
Inspired by his experience growing up as the only person in his immediate family who had not been incarcerated or otherwise involved with the criminal justice system, David Turner has dedicated his life to uplifting young Black and Brown men and providing opportunities for their success.
His childhood growing up in Inglewood was marked by the familiar challenges Black youth face in communities across the city—underfunded education, punitive law enforcement methods, and family and friends being funneled into the criminal justice system via the school-to-prison pipeline instead of receiving the support they need to build a better future.
It’s not just about defunding the police; it is reimagining what public safety looks like, and having that reimagination rooted in what the community needs.
David Turner
Nizgui Gomez
Communities for a Better Environment
Particularly during the pandemic, residents exposed to the effects of toxic oil drilling have been more vulnerable to respiratory illness.
In the Harbor region of Los Angeles, adjacent to the third largest urban oil field in the nation, sits the small town of Wilmington. With hundred-year-old environmental regulations gathering dust, local residents continue to bear the brunt of the toxic effects of neighborhood oil drilling—in some instances happening only steps from their front door. This is one of the devastating forms of environmental racism youth activists like Nizgui Gomez and the organizers at Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) are fighting.
We do this not because we want to, but because we have to. Our lives depend on it.
Nizgui Gomez
Campaigns & Partnerships Expand in 2020
Our Financial Strength...
Donors Bending the Arc Towards Justice
