Our history
A unique family foundation, rooted in mass communication and seeding innovative solutions since the mid-20th century.
The Great Elephant Migration
A procession of 100 life-sized elephant sculptures ceremonially migrates to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts and a nearby public park — the culmination of a cross-country exhibition emphasizing peaceful co-existence with the world’s wildlife. Wallis Annenberg is among the “matriarchs” who have made their journey of 5,000 miles possible.
Teen Tech Centers
AnnenbergTech celebrates the sixth of 12 Teen Tech Centers it supports in partnership with the Greater Los Angeles Education and Best Buy Foundations. New centers in Lancaster and Long Beach, Calif. join a network of centers providing youth with access to the latest technology, “maker spaces,” and entrepreneurship programs.
Annenberg Wildlife Crossing
Six-thousand cubic yards of soil on top of 26 million pounds of concrete formed the next-to-final layers of the record-breaking Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Agoura Hills, Calif. The structure spanning the 101 freeway and an adjacent local road approaches completion, anticipated in 2026.
Official FIFA World Cup 26™
The Annenberg Foundation was instrumental in the creation of the official FIFA World Cup 26™ Los Angeles poster, incentivizing submissions from across greater L.A. in a public design contest, empaneling a jury of esteemed artists, curators and critics, and paying tribute to all athletes, artists, and Angelenos with a public unveiling ahead of the Cup’s first multi-country kickoff in 2026.
Pacific Palisades and Altadena Wildfires Reponse
The Annenberg Foundation responds swiftly to devastating wildfires in Pacific Palisades and Altadena, authorizing $500K to the LAFD for emergency gear overnight and granting more than $3M in disaster relief to dozens of community-based nonprofits in a matter of weeks. Additionally, it advises the FireAid benefit concerts, which garnered $100M, on how and where to allocate funds.
The Los Angeles County Office of Food Systems Launches
The Los Angeles County Office of Food Systems, based on a blueprint devised by the Annenberg Foundation and local philanthropic partners in the Food Equity Roundtable (ca. 2022), launches. Its inaugural executive director is Paula Daniels.
National Humanities Medal
Wallis Annenberg receives the National Humanities Medal — bestowed by the President “for transforming philanthropy in our nation.” The White House calls Wallis “a visionary giver and innovator… advancing, healing and inspiring communities across America.” Her Presidential award is the Annenberg family’s third; Ambassador Walter H. Annenberg, founder of the Annenberg Foundation, received the Medal of Freedom in 1986 and the Medal of Arts in 1993.
National Microcredential Launched
Annenberg Learner debuts a national microcredential for high-impact tutoring to better measure and enhance equity-centered, data-driven instruction. Developed in collaboration with Arizona State University and Step Up Tutoring, a partner of the Los Angeles Unified School District, the credential is earned by more than 150 tutors in the first months of its launch and is adopted by regional tutoring associations.
NHM Commons
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County welcomes visitors to a new “NHM Commons” — starting with the Wallis Annenberg Lobby, the public can enjoy an extension of the historic museum now featuring South L.A. Cafe, a new theater, historic mural, and more. Wallis has long been a patron of California’s cultural institutes, including the neighboring California Science Center in Exposition Park.
Fallen Journalists Memorial
Designs are unveiled for the first-of-its-kind Fallen Journalists Memorial, made possible through seed funding from the Annenberg Foundation and others. The monument will be located on the National Mall and underscores the essential role of the press in American democracy.
Isla Intersections Opens
A 54-unit permanent supportive housing complex supported by the Foundation opens to residents in south Los Angeles, providing apartments for veterans and the formerly unhoused. Called Isla Intersections for its location above the 110 and 105 freeways, Isla also is home to Annenberg Paseo, a pedestrian and bike path lined with spaces for retail, job training, support services, and administrative offices. Unique landscaping helps mitigate air and noise pollution at the site, which also features a rooftop community garden.
Food Equity Roundtable Strategic Action Plan Approved
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approves a motion to adopt the strategic action plan produced by the Annenberg co-chaired Food Equity Roundtable as a roadmap for addressing countywide food insecurity and improving access to healthy food options.
New York City Economic Development Corporation’s Venture Access Alliance Launches
AnnenbergTech’s PledgeLA initiative — a coalition of venture capital firms working to make Los Angeles a global tech hub — hosts the launch of the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s Venture Access Alliance, a similar coalition for which PledgeLA served as a model and advisor. Both coalitions aim to increase access to capital for under-represented founders.
Wallis Annenberg Receives Humanitarian Award from Women’s Guide Cedars-Sinai
The esteemed Women’s Guild Cedars-Sinai (est. 1957) recognizes Wallis Annenberg’s decades of philanthropy with a humanitarian award. Wallis announces a $1M gift toward neurological research and care.
Conservation Challenge Grant
The Annenberg Foundation announces a Conservation Challenge grant to support the replication of wildlife crossings like the Annenberg Wildlife Crossing across the state and beyond. The grant incentivizes private donations to the Wildlife Crossing Fund launched by the National Wildlife Foundation for wildlife crossings all over the world. Wildlife-vehicle collisions cost the U.S. >$11 billion in medical costs and vehicle repairs annually and are the leading cause of death for many wildlife species.
Food Equity Roundtable Publishes Strategic Action Plan
The Annenberg co-chaired Food Equity Roundtable publishes a comprehensive strategic action plan drawing from the input of hundreds of community-based organizations and food system experts. It clearly defines initiatives, milestones, and outcome-driven goals, allowing for improvements that can be implemented in the short term while identifying policy changes to systematically address food insecurity.
Sebastião Salgado’s Amazonia Exhibit Opens
Wallis Annenberg supports the North American debut of renowned photographer Sebastião Salgado’s exhibit Amazonia. The stunning photos documenting more than six years of climate impact on Indigenous tribes in the Amazon is presented at the California Science Center, to which Wallis has given more than $35 million since 1998.
Breaking Ground
The Annenberg Wildlife Crossing breaks ground in Agoura Hills, Calif. Set to span ten lanes of U.S. Rte 101, it will provide safe passage for California mountain lions and other regional wildlife, reconnecting local habitats. Hundreds turned out to celebrate the historic project, which will become the largest animal bridge in the world.
Wallis Annenberg GenSpace Opens
Wallis Annenberg GenSpace opens to the public, providing a state-of-the-art, innovative alternative to community centers for older adults. GenSpace offers weekly classes ranging from dance and tai chi to horticultural therapy, tech, painting, and so much more. It is part of Wallis’s effort to change how society views aging, especially as the U.S. population of older adults grows.
#SaveLACougars Campaign
Wallis’ $25 million grant to the #SaveLACougars campaign sets in motion the first urban wildlife crossing to span more than 10 lanes of highway, and is the largest donation the National Wildlife Federation ever has received.
Pop-Up Clinics for Teens
On the heels of prioritizing COVID vaccinations for older adults through pop-up clinics in Century City, Koreatown and elsewhere, the Foundation hosts the first clinic for 12- to 15-year-old patients in Los Angeles County following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) authorization of the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in adolescents.
COVID Grant Prioritization
In 2020, the Foundation prioritized COVID-related grants — totaling almost $8 million — to provide essential protective equipment, testing, and immunizations, and non-profit operating support to community healthcare clinics.
Three Centuries of Photography
The Library of Congress adds 1,000 contemporary prints from the Annenberg Space for Photography to its collection — one of the world’s largest. The donation by the Foundation to “the Nation’s Library” includes a $1 million gift to enhance visitors’ experience and follows a collaboration between the Library and Annenberg in 2018 spanning three centuries of photography.
Supporting L.A. Hospitals
The Foundation donates several hundred iPads to Los Angeles County hospitals to enable COVID patients to communicate with loved ones. In the first months of the pandemic, this offers some assistance and relief as healthcare workers and families struggle through infection and isolation.
The Foundation Marks Its 30th Anniversary!
Wallis Annenberg GenSpace Site Breaks Ground
The future home of the Wallis Annenberg GenSpace is the site of Los Angeles’s Wilshire Boulevard Temple, where ground is broken for the new Rem Koolhaas-designed community center for older adults.
Wallis Annenberg PetSpace Opens
The Wallis Annenberg PetSpace opens in Playa Vista, Calif. and is the first community center to combine animal adoption, education, and interactive programming about the power of the bond between people and their pets.
Sunnylands Opens
Sunnylands opens to offer tranquility and hospitality to national and world diplomats and those working to “promote world peace and facilitate international agreement.” It becomes the site of a formative meeting between President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013. More than half a million visitors have enjoyed Sunnylands Center & Gardens in the years since.
Foundation Trusteeship
The foundation’s trusteeship goes to Wallis Annenberg and three of her children — Lauren Bon, Gregory Annenberg Weingarten and Charles Annenberg Weingarten – after Leonore passes away.
Annenberg Community Beach Opens
The Annenberg Community Beach House opens in April. Wallis initiated and financed the restoration and transformation of five acres of dilapidated beachfront property on Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica, establishing a cherished community amenity, open to the public.
The Annenberg Center for Information Science and Technology Opens at CalTech
The Annenberg Center for Information Science and Technology at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) opens in October. The IST Initiative was founded in 2004 in part with $25 million from the Annenberg Foundation.
The Annenberg Space for Photography Opens
The Annenberg Space for Photography opens in Century City. Offering digital and print photography in an intimate environment, it is the first solely photographic cultural destination in the Los Angeles area, hosting more than 30 exhibitions and close to one million visitors before its closure in 2020.
Walter Dies at Age 94 in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania
Director’s Endowment Fund
The Annenberg Foundation creates the Director’s Endowment Fund at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), committing $10 million to support special exhibitions, art acquisitions, and educational opportunities for marginalized youth. In recognition of this support, LACMA establishes the Wallis Annenberg Directorship at LACMA.
The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands Founded
The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands is founded to address important issues facing the nation and the world. Offering a 17,000-square-foot Sunnylands Center which combines with Walter’s and Leonore’s former residence to comprise The Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands, the site serves generations of world leaders seeking privacy and peace.
Annenberg Challenge for School Reform
The Annenberg Challenge for School Reform invests $500 million to catalyze improvements in public education, one of the largest gifts in philanthropic history. Eighteen locally designed Challenge projects operated in 35 states, funding 2,400 public schools that served more than 1.5 million students and 80,000 teachers. It inspired more than $600 million in matching grants.
Grant for the University of Pennsylvania
The Annenberg Foundation grants $120 million to the University of Pennsylvania, endowing the Annenberg School for Communication and creating the Annenberg Public Policy Center for work at the critical intersection of media, communication and public policy.
Grant for Harvard University
The Annenberg Foundation gives $25 million to Harvard University for scholarships, seminar programs and renovations, including the creation of a dining facility named for Walter’s late son, Roger, who attended Harvard.
United Negro College Fund Pledge
Walter pledges $50 million to the United Negro College Fund in 1990. His gift is the largest single contribution ever given to help support historically Black colleges and served as the lead contribution to raise money for capital expenses, scholarships, curriculum and faculty development, and more at the 41 member institutions. At the time of the gift, Walter had been active in supporting the fund for more than a decade, leading a fundraising campaign in Philadelphia in 1979 and serving as national chairman of the 1985 U.N.C.F. Telethon.
The Annenberg Foundation is Formally Established and Launches on July 1 with $1.2 Billion in Assets
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Annenberg commits $150 million to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, supporting the production and distribution of college-level courses on public television so viewers may take classes at home and earn credits toward college degrees.
Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at USC Founded
The Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California is founded with an $8 million gift. Since opening in 1976, the school has graduated thousands of students pursuing degrees across communication, journalism, public relations, and public diplomacy programs.
Wallis Annenberg Becomes U.S. Ambassador for the United Kingdom
Walter becomes U.S. Ambassador for the United Kingdom (formally, “Ambassador to the Court of St James”). Despite initial disinclination, he is persuaded by President Nixon to accept the nomination and eventually confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Annenberg and HM Queen Elizabeth reportedly became great friends during his tenure; the Embassy and Consulates called Annenberg “a good and generous friend to Great Britain for many years to come.”
Annenberg School for Communication Founded
The Annenberg School for Communication is founded with Walter’s $2.65 million gift to the University of Pennsylvania.