Liberty Hill Foundation

[http://www.libertyhill.org Liberty Hill Foundation] is one of the United States leading social justice foundations. Liberty Hill was launched with $100,000 and a commitment to change, not charity -- a commitment to making lasting changes in people’s lives, not just offering short-term relief. The Los Angeles Times has called Liberty Hill “the most effective organization of its type in the country.”

In 2006, Liberty Hill awarded more than $3 million in grants, bringing the organization’s total grant making over 30 years to $30 million. More than 85 percent of the money raised by the foundation goes directly to Liberty Hill’s program work. Unlike many foundations, Liberty Hill grants are made by boards that bring together community leaders and local donors.

Liberty Hill often awards “seed grants” -- grants to groups that have never received funding before -- because we believe that the people most affected by social problems know best how to solve them. We take risks on untested, innovative programs that are rooted in community needs and community leadership. Liberty Hill’s grants are “venture capital” for social change. Recent Liberty Hill grants helped nurture living wage campaigns, clean up local toxics, and enforce fair labor practices for low-wage workers.

Mission of Liberty Hill

The Liberty Hill Foundation partners with innovative and effective Los Angeles grassroots organizations to combat poverty and injustice and to help transform the “City of Angels” into a place that promises safety, equality and opportunity for all who live here.

Liberty Hill’s motto is “Change, not Charity.” Charity is important, but our dollars go the next step – organizing, advocating, and creating change for the long-term.

Liberty Hill

• Makes grants
• Provides tailored training
• Shapes the debate
• Promotes social change philanthropy

History of Liberty Hill’s Name

In the early evening of May 15, 1923, one of the nation’s most celebrated writers, Upton Sinclair, rose to speak on behalf of 3,000 striking longshoremen at Liberty Hill in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California. Sinclair began his address by reading the U.S. Constitution. Within moments, he was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department. For the next four days, Sinclair and three other speakers were held incommunicado.

Despite police efforts to squelch the strike, Sinclair’s cause and the cause of those he championed was ultimately victorious. Shortly after Sinclair’s arrest, hundreds of striking workers were released from jail, the longshoremen gained the right to organize and the Chief of Police was forced to resign. The demonstration at Liberty Hill came to be seen as a pivotal moment signaling a breakthrough in labor organizing in Southern California.

This historic victory and the acts of courage that brought it about inspired four young people (Larry Janss, Anne Mendel, Win McCormack and Sarah Pillsbury) in 1976 to create a foundation that would be a permanent resource for the cause of social justice in Los Angeles County.