Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Foundation
Founded 1989
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″N 118°24′56″W / 34.058233°N 118.415536°W
Area served
 United States
Owner Wallis Annenberg
Key people
 Wallis Annenberg
Lauren Bon
Gregory Annenberg Weingarten
Charles Annenberg Weingarten
Slogan Advancing the Public Well-Being Through Improved Communication
Mission Encouraging the development of more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge
Website Official website

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 and the Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts.

Overview

The Annenberg Foundation continues its historic programming focus, but is expanding to include environmental stewardship, social justice, and animal welfare. The foundation continues to evolve from a traditional grantmaking institution to one that is actively involved in the community. The Annenberg Foundation strives to promote charitable activities through which large-scale solutions to systemic problems are pursued.

The following current projects are implemented by Annenberg Foundation Trustees and guided by their unique 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 critical issues addressed are effective governance, fundraising, and public accountability.

The Annenberg Community Beach House

Spearheaded by Wallis Annenberg’s commitment for building community space, The Annenberg Community Beach House at Santa Monica State Beach opened in 2009. Built on an historic site, The Beach House is a stunning free public swim and gathering facility located on 5 acres (20,000 m2) of oceanfront property. The Beach House represents one of the most unique public beach facilities in the United States.

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 site, 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 is the former private estate of Mr. and Mrs. Walter H. Annenberg that opened in March 2012 as a high-level retreat center, historic house, and visitor center. Sunnylands, informally referred to as “Camp David West,” the estate was visited by 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 importance as well as the Annenberg’s collections of art.

Annenberg Space for Photography

The Annenberg Space for Photography, which opened in March 2009, is a cultural destination dedicated to exhibiting both digital and print photography in an intimate environment. The Space features state-of-the-art, high-definition digital technology as well as traditional prints by some of the world's most renowned photographers and a selection of emerging photographic talents as well. The Space showcases roughly 3-4 rotating exhibits per year. It is located at 2000 Avenue of the Stars in Los Angeles' Century City district, across the street from Century Plaza Hotel. Photographers featured have include John Baldessari, Lauren Greenfield, 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.

Exhibits

Explore.org

Led by Charles Annenberg Weingarten, explore is a multimedia organization that creates video documentaries and photographic essays on non-profit organizations around the world. The explore team members document their missions, which include traditional philanthropic site visits to potential grantees whose leaders have devoted their lives to extraordinary causes. Explore uniquely combines global grantmaking, filmmaking, and photography as tools to educate and inspire.

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 innovative 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 28th, 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. However, on December 2nd, the Foundation announced that it was suspending its plans.[3] The Los Angeles Times reported that some wetlands advocates had opposed the proposal. The Los Angeles Daily News noted that this was the Foundation's second failed attempt to construct this project on public land. The LA Times' and LA Daily News' editorial boards had called the project "a bad fit" and "inappropriate," respectively.

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.

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 offers students a firm grounding in various approaches to the study of communication and its methods, drawn from both the humanities and the social sciences.

The Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism of the University of Southern California The Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism is one of the foremost programs of its kind in the United States. The school fosters dynamic synergies and multidisciplinary approaches to the study of communication and journalism through unparalleled access to the nation's and the world's entertainment, mass media and technology industries. With more than 83 full-time faculty members and 120 adjunct professors, more than 2,200 undergraduate and graduate students are served. 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 world-renowned nonprofit oceanographic research center.

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

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. The treehouse, a 2,500-square-foot (230 m2) wooden structure, was designed to give children and adults of all ages and physical abilities an awe-inspiring experience—and a bird’s eye view. Created as a service to the immediate community and as an inspiration for others, nearly 30 treehouses have been built nationally.

References

  1. ↑ "Foundation Growth and Giving Estimates" (PDF). Foundation Centre. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  2. ↑ Unger, Harlow G. (2007). Encyclopedia of American education 1 (3, revised, illustrated ed.). New York: Infobase Publishing. p. 86. ISBN 978-0-8160-6887-6. OCLC 70335076. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  3. ↑ Official Announcement of Withdrawal

External links