Wave Wire Services
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles 2028 Olympics Organizing Committee unveiled May 18 the names of the first eight recipients who will receive $100,000 grants to support environmental projects.
The Resilience Champions Fund is part of LA28’s Impact and Sustainability Plan, which is designed to invest in local nonprofits that are committed to building a more resilient Los Angeles for future generations.
For the first round of the initiative, LA28 provided a total of $800,000. The fund supports local projects across three priority areas: wildfire resilience and nature restoration, ocean protection and cooling solutions.
In the aftermath of the January 2025 wildfires, LA28 especially wanted to support community projects geared toward addressing extreme heat, wildfire risk and environmental degradation.
“Resilience is built in communities and sustained through collective action,” LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover said in a statement. “Through the LA28 Resilience Champions Fund, we’re investing in local organizations leading solutions rooted in community, driven by ingenuity and designed to protect the future of Los Angeles.”
The following organizations received funding:
- Active SGV, which will use the grant to support efforts to transform unused school space into parks and expanding green space access in El Monte.
- Amigos del los Rios, whose members are working on expanding tree canopy at the Whittier Narrows Recreation Area.
- Chrysalis, which is working on reducing wildfire risk in the Sepulveda Basin in the San Fernando Valley, where several Olympic events are scheduled to take place.
- Climate Resolve, which is working on improving a Boyle Heights basketball court by adding more shade and coordinating programs for local youth.
- Conservation Corps of Long Beach, whose members are training young adults in coastal conservation by restoring wetlands, coastal habitats and coastal public trails.
- LA Community Garden Council, a group overseeing the creation of community gardens in areas such as Sunland-Tujunga, East Hollywood and South Los Angeles.
- The Los Angeles Urban League, which is training youth from fire-affected areas including Pasadena/Altadena in wildfire resilience and green construction.
- And the Santa Monica Mountains Fund, whose members are planting native trees near the Olympic and Paralympic Village, which will be hosted at UCLA.
Applications were reviewed and selected by a panel of community partners and an advisory group.
“The fund was really born out of that conversation of looking, not just for how are we reducing our own footprint, but also how are we going to drive lasting benefits that communities could see and feel,” Becky Dale, LA28 vice president of sustainability, told City News Service in a telephone interview.
Dale said that LA28 expects to provide grants through multiple rounds, and the next announcement will occur before the end of the year.
“The portfolio reflects both the diversity of the region and the diversity of the need,” Dale said. “We were very deliberate about making sure that we kind of distributed the benefits geographically, which is a reflection of LA28 game’s plan, and the fact that we’re showing up across the region.”
She emphasized the initiative was a group effort between a local grant maker and involved different sectors.
“This is a reflection of the partnership that went into building this fund and making sure it was not LA28 unilaterally making decisions, but bringing stakeholders into the room to help us make smart investments,” Dale said.
LA28 also introduced its official LA28 Resilience Champions emblem, a symbol billed as representing the three pillars of the initiative.
More information on the emblem and funding initiative can be found at la28.org/en/la-stories/la28-a/resilience-champions-initiative.html.
