Annenberg Foundation

Last updated
Annenberg Foundation
FoundedJuly 1, 1989
(section 509(a)(3) organization)
Founder Walter H. Annenberg
Type Non-operating private foundation
(IRS exemption status): 501(c)(3) [1]
Focus Arts, Education, Health and Human Services, Animal services and Civic responsibility
Location
Coordinates 34°03′30″N118°24′56″W / 34.058233°N 118.415536°W / 34.058233; -118.415536
Area served
United States
OwnerWallis Annenberg
Key people
  • Wallis Annenberg
  • Lauren Bon
  • Gregory Annenberg Weingarten
  • Charles Annenberg Weingarten
Website www.annenbergfoundation.org

The Annenberg Foundation is a family foundation that provides funding and support to non-profit organizations in the United States and around the world. [2] Some of the Foundation's core initiatives are the Annenberg/Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) project (now Annenberg Learner), which funds many educational television shows broadcast on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) public television in the United States as well as The Annenberg Community Beach House, The Annenberg Space for Photography, Metabolic Studio, explore.org, Wallis Annenberg PetSpace and the Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts.

Contents

Overview

The Annenberg Foundation is a family foundation established by Walter H. Annenberg in 1989 with $1.2 billion, one-third of the assets from the sale of Triangle Publications.

The Annenberg Foundation continues its programming focus, but its efforts include environmental stewardship, social justice, and animal welfare. The foundation has roots as a traditional grantmaking institution and is also involved in the community. The Annenberg Foundation promotes charitable activities through which large-scale solutions to systemic problems are pursued.

The foundation has $1.59B in assets. [3]

The following current projects are implemented by Annenberg Foundation Trustees and guided by their philanthropic vision:

Ownership and Board of Directors

Walter H. Annenberg headed the Annenberg Foundation until his death in 2002. Leonore, his wife, ran it until her death in March 2009. Since then, the foundation's trusteeship has been led by Wallis Annenberg and three of her children: Lauren Bon, Gregory Annenberg Weingarten and Charles Annenberg Weingarten.

Projects

The Annenberg Foundation is involved in a number of projects, some of which are listed below.

Annenberg Alchemy

Alchemy is a free non-profit leadership development program that offers capacity building with a focus on the strength of Executive Directors and Board Chairs. Participation is open to non-profits with operating budgets of $2 million or less based in Los Angeles County, California. However, the Executive Director and Board Chairperson are asked to participate together through the duration of the training. Among the issues addressed are effective governance, fundraising, and public accountability.

The Annenberg Community Beach House

Spearheaded by Wallis Annenberg's commitment for building community spaces, The Annenberg Community Beach House at Santa Monica State Beach opened in 2009. Built on an historic site, The Beach House is a free public swim and gathering facility located on 5 acres (20,000 m2) of oceanfront property.

Annenberg Learner

Annenberg Learner, formerly Annenberg Media, is an entity of the Annenberg Foundation that creates educational resources (video, print, and Web-based) to improve teaching methods and subject-matter expertise. Their K–12 and higher education resources are distributed to schools, non-commercial community agencies, colleges and universities. Annenberg Learner delivers its materials free-of-charge through learner.org. The website, which also houses interactive activities, downloadable guides, and resources coordinated with each video series, receives more than 10 million visits per month from teachers and learners worldwide. The website offers integrated multimedia K–12 materials to teachers for in-class use and professional development. Programs are also available for viewer's use at home.

The Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands

The Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage, California, is the former private estate of Mr. and Mrs. Walter H. Annenberg. It opened in March 2012 as a historic house and visitor center. Sunnylands has been informally referred to as "Camp David West". It has been visited by numerous U.S. Presidents, heads of state, and international dignitaries. The visitor center includes a 9-acre (36,000 m2) desert garden, historical exhibitions and programming highlighting its architectural significance as well as the Annenberg's collections of art.

The Annenberg Space for Photography

The Annenberg Space for Photography, was an exhibit space for where digital and print photography. The Space held roughly two exhibits per year of digital technology or traditional prints by established and emerging photographers. It was in Los Angeles' Century City district, across the street from Century Plaza Hotel. On June 8, 2020, it was announced that the facility will not re-open following the closing in March due to pandemic.

Photographers that have been exhibited include John Baldessari, Lauren Greenfield, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Walter Iooss, Lynn Johnson, Douglas Kirkland, Neil Leifer, Michael Nichols, Catherine Opie, Matthew Rolston, Julius Shulman, Melvin Sokolsky, John Stanmeyer, Bert Stern, Tim Street-Porter, Tyen and Albert Watson, Harun Mehmedinovic, Gavin Heffernan.

Exhibits

  • March 23, 2013 - June 2, 2013 – War/Photography: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath
  • October 26, 2013 - April 27, 2014 – The Power of Photography: National Geographic 125 Years
  • May 31, 2014 - September 28, 2014 – Country: Portraits of an American Sound – regarding country music
  • October 24, 2015 - March 20, 2016 – Life: A Journey Through Time (Frans Lanting)
  • April 23, 2016 – August 21, 2016 – Refugee
  • September 24, 2016 - February 26, 2017 – Identity: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders The List Portraits
  • October 22, 2016 - February 26, 2017 – #girlgaze: a frame of mind
  • April 8, 2017 - August 13, 2017 – Generation Wealth by Lauren Greenfield
  • September 9, 2017 - March 4, 2018 – Cuba is & Resolviendo
  • April 21, 2018 – September 9, 2018 – Not an Ostrich: And Other Images from America’s Library
  • October 13, 2018 – January 13, 2019 – "National Geographic Photo Ark"
  • April 26, 2019 – August 18, 2019 – "CONTACT HIGH: A Visual History of Hip-Hop"

Explore.org

Led by Charles Annenberg Weingarten, Explore is a multimedia organization that creates video documentaries and photographic essays about non-profit organizations around the world.

Explore.org hosts the worlds largest collection of nature livecams, streaming video of animals in their natural habitat, from around the world. Explore.org hosts the well known Bear Cams from Brooks River in Katmai National Park, home of Fat Bear Week.

The Metabolic Studio

The Metabolic Studio is Lauren Bon’s practice at the intersection of art and philanthropy. The Studio incorporates creativity and innovation to remediate brownfields, places incapable of supporting life. Ms. Bon’s signature projects include: Not A Cornfield, 2005–2006; Farmlab, 2006–2008; Strawberry Flag, 2009–2010; and Silver and Water, 2006–Present. Ms. Bon’s work creates solutions to critical social issues, often engaging complex bureaucracies including the California Department of Parks and Recreation, Veterans Administration, California State Lands Commission, and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

The Wallis Annenberg Heart Program

Coordinating with the Los Angeles Fire Department and the Los Angeles County Fire Department as well as private and public healthcare agencies, the Wallis Annenberg Heart Program, helped create a new paramedic system for improving the diagnosis and treatment of chest pain in thousands of Los Angeles area residents each year. Implemented in 2005, the new method replaced previous 4-lead EKG procedures, with a more accurate and revealing 12-lead system that helps paramedics and hospital-based physicians better diagnose and treat patients with symptoms of heart attacks.

The Ballona Wetlands Restoration Project

On January 28, 2013, the Annenberg Foundation signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and several other state agencies to explore the possibility of constructing a 46,000 square foot facility in the protected Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve which would have included adoption and veterinary services for domestic pets. [4] However, on December 2, the Foundation announced that it was suspending its plans. [5] The Los Angeles Times reported that some wetlands advocates had opposed the proposal. [6] The Los Angeles Daily News noted that this was the Foundation's second failed attempt to construct this project on public land. [7] The Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Daily News editorial boards called the project "a bad fit" and "inappropriate," respectively. [8] [9]

Other organizations and programs of the Foundation

Annenberg Challenge: In 1993, the largest gift to public education was made by Ambassador Walter Annenberg, a $500 million grant named the Annenberg Challenge. The grant was designed to unite the resources throughout the United States and ideas of those committed to increasing the effectiveness of public schooling. Recognizing that no single gift could improve all schools, the Challenge served as a catalyst to energize and support educational reform efforts across the country.

Annenberg Institute at Brown University: The Annenberg Institute at Brown University was established in 1993 through an anonymous gift of $5 million. Several months later, a $50-million gift – part of Ambassador Walter H. Annenberg's $500-million Challenge to the Nation to improve public education in America – enabled the fledgling Institute to expand the scope of its work. In appreciation of the Ambassador's gift, the Annenberg Institute was renamed in his honor. The Institute adopted its current mission in 1998: "To develop, share, and act on knowledge that improves the conditions and outcomes of schooling in America, especially in urban communities and in schools serving disadvantaged children."

The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania: The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania developed FactCheck.org. FactCheck.org monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases.

The Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania: The Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania was founded in 1958.

The Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism of the University of Southern California: With more than 83 full-time faculty members and 120 adjunct professors, more than 2,200 undergraduate and graduate students are served at USC Annenberg. The school houses dozens of research and public interest programs, including the Norman Lear Center and the Knight Digital Media Center. USC Annenberg has become a center for discussion among scholars and professionals in journalism, communication, public policy, media, and education.

Other programs and projects

Ocean Alliance's Tarr and Wonson Paint Manufactory: The foundation provided funding to help purchase, preserve and restore the Tarr and Wonson Paint Manufactory in Gloucester, Massachusetts. This historic 1863 building at the entrance to the harbor will become the headquarters for Ocean Alliance, a nonprofit oceanographic research center.

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (Beverly Hills, California): This effort preserves the landmark, historic Beverly Hills Post Office (adjacent to Beverly Hills City Hall) by transforming the building into a performing arts and cultural facility for the presentation of theater, dance, music, professional children's theater and other cultural activities. The Center features a 500-seat theater, 150-seat studio theater/rehearsal hall, classrooms, café, gift shop, and sculpture garden. The center opened to the public in October 2013. [10]

The Universally-Accessible Treehouse in Torrance, California: The first universally accessible treehouse in a public space in California was opened April 10, 2005, at Wilson Park in Torrance, California. Nearly 30 treehouses have been built nationally.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Annenberg</span> American businessman (1908–2002)

Walter Hubert Annenberg was an American businessman, investor, philanthropist, and diplomat. Annenberg owned and operated Triangle Publications, which included ownership of The Philadelphia Inquirer, TV Guide, the Daily Racing Form and Seventeen magazine. He was appointed by President Richard Nixon as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, where he served from 1969 to 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marina del Rey, California</span> Census-designated place in the United States

Marina del Rey is an unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles County, California, with an eponymous harbor that is a major boating and water recreation destination of the greater Los Angeles area. The port is North America's largest man-made small-craft harbor and is home to approximately 5,000 boats. The area is a popular tourism destination for both land and water activities such as paddle board and kayak rentals, dining cruises, and yacht charters. Land activities include bicycling on several bicycle paths, walking paths along the waterfront, and birdwatching (birding). Wildlife watching opportunities include California sea lions and harbor seals. Dolphins and whales occasionally visit the deeper waters of harbor. This Westside locale is approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Santa Monica, 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Los Angeles International Airport, and 12.5 miles (20.1 km) west-southwest of Downtown Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Angeles County Museum of Art</span> Art museum in Los Angeles, California, United States

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timothy Greenfield-Sanders</span> American filmmaker and photographer (born 1952)

Timothy Greenfield-Sanders is an American documentary filmmaker and portrait photographer based in New York City. The majority of his work is shot in large format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Playa Vista, Los Angeles</span> Neighborhood of Los Angeles in California, United States

Playa Vista is a neighborhood in the Westside area of Los Angeles, California, United States. The area was the headquarters of Hughes Aircraft Company from 1941 to 1985 and the site of the construction of the Hughes H-4 Hercules "Spruce Goose" aircraft. The area began development in 2002 as a planned community with residential, commercial, and retail components. The community attracted businesses in technology, media and entertainment and is part of Silicon Beach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ballona Creek</span> Urbanized river in Los Angeles, California, United States.

Ballona Creek is an 8.5-mile (13.7 km) channelized stream in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, that was once a "year-round river lined with sycamores and willows". The urban watercourse begins in the Mid-City neighborhood of Los Angeles, flows through Culver City and Del Rey, and passes the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Preserve, the sailboat harbor Marina del Rey, and the small beachside community of Playa del Rey before draining into Santa Monica Bay. The Ballona Creek drainage basin carries water from the Santa Monica Mountains on the north, from the Baldwin Hills to the south, and as far as the Harbor Freeway (I-110) to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ballona Wetlands</span> Estuary and marsh in California, United States

Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve is a protected area that once served as the natural estuary for neighboring Ballona Creek. The 577-acre (2.34 km2) site is located in Los Angeles County, California, just south of Marina del Rey. Ballona—the second-largest open space within the city limits of Los Angeles, behind Griffith Park—is owned by the state of California and managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The preserve is bisected generally east-west by the Ballona Creek channel and bordered by the 90 Marina freeway to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauren Greenfield</span> American photographer and filmmaker

Lauren Greenfield is an American artist, documentary photographer, and documentary filmmaker. She has published four photographic monographs, directed four documentary features, produced four traveling exhibitions, and published in magazines throughout the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Bohnett</span> American philanthropist and technology entrepreneur

David C. Bohnett is an American philanthropist and technology entrepreneur. He is the founder and chairman of the David Bohnett Foundation, a non-profit, grant-making organization devoted to improving society through social activism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Evers (businessman)</span>

Francis "Frank" Anthony Evers is an Irish & American businessman and film/TV producer, the CEO of Institute, Institute Artist, the Story Institute, and the president of Evergreen Pictures and Girl Culture Films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunnylands</span> Estate-retreat in Rancho Mirage, California

Sunnylands, the former Annenberg Estate, located in Rancho Mirage, California, is a 200-acre (0.81 km2) estate currently run by The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands, a not-for-profit organization. The property was owned by Walter and Leonore Annenberg until 2009 and had been used as a winter retreat by the couple beginning in 1966, when the house was completed. The city of Rancho Mirage considers the property to be “rich with historical significance” and declared Sunnylands a historic site in 1990. Located at Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope Drives, the property has been the vacation site of numerous celebrities and public officials. Sunnylands is sometimes referred to as the "Camp David of the West."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallis Annenberg</span> American philanthropist and heiress

Wallis Huberta Annenberg is an American philanthropist and heiress. Annenberg serves as president and chairwoman of the Board of The Annenberg Foundation, a multibillion-dollar philanthropic organization in the United States.

Neon Tommy was the online news publication sponsored by the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism at the University of Southern California. It was active from 2009 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts</span>

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is a community arts center in Beverly Hills, California, named for philanthropist Wallis Annenberg in recognition for The Annenberg Foundation's major gift to fund the campus. It is colloquially known as The Wallis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Ballona, California</span> 19th century planned harbor of Santa Monica Bay

Port Ballona is an archaic place name for an area near the center of Santa Monica Bay in coastal Los Angeles County, where Playa Del Rey and Del Rey Lagoon are located today. Port Ballona was a planned harbor and town site from circa 1859 to 1903. The name comes from the Rancho La Ballona Mexican land grant.

Charlotte Cotton is a curator of and writer about photography.

Lauren Bon is an artist who works with architecture, performance, photography, sound, and farming, to create urban, public, and land art projects that she terms "devices of wonder" to galvanize social and political transformation.

Cynthia "Cinny" Clare Kennard is an American business and nonprofit executive, author and former broadcast journalist. She is the executive director of The Annenberg Foundation, based in Los Angeles, and Annenberg PetSpace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallis Annenberg Stadium</span> Stadium in Los Angeles, California, United States

Wallis Annenberg Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium located on the campus of University of California, Los Angeles. The stadium is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's soccer programs, and replaced Drake Stadium as the home venue for the two programs. The stadium is also home to the UCLA Bruins men's rugby team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Annenberg Space for Photography</span> Exhibition space in the Century City in Los Angeles

The Annenberg Space for Photography was an exhibition space in the Century City neighborhood of Los Angeles' Westside. Founded in March 2009, it was dedicated to displaying photographic works, ranging from artistic to journalistic, using both traditional photographic prints and modern digital techniques.

References

  1. ↑ "Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates" (PDF). Foundation Centre. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  2. ↑ Unger, Harlow G. (2007). Encyclopedia of American education. Vol. 1 (3, revised, illustrated ed.). New York: Infobase Publishing. p. 86. ISBN   978-0-8160-6887-6. OCLC   70335076 . Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  3. ↑ "Annenberg Foundation". www.influencewatch.org. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  4. ↑ "Fully Executed MOU Jan 28 2013.pdf". Google Docs. January 28, 2013. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  5. ↑ Official Announcement of Withdrawal
  6. ↑ Groves, Martha (December 3, 2014). "Annenberg Foundation suspends plan for Ballona Wetlands visitors center". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  7. ↑ Mazza, Sandy (December 2, 2014). "Annenberg pulls $45 million for controversial Ballona Wetlands redevelopment". Daily News. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  8. ↑ "A bad fit for Ballona Wetlands". Los Angeles Times. September 20, 2013. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Ballona Wetlands not appropriate place for a pet adoption center: Editorial". Daily News. July 2, 2014. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  10. ↑ Wallis, The. "About Us". thewallis.org. Retrieved 2017-11-26.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.