Los Angeles is grappling with how to effectively distribute nearly $1 billion in private donations pledged for wildfire relief, with one high-profile initiative, LA Rises, delivering just $20 million in its first year.
A Slow Start for LA Rises
The initiative, launched with a $100 million commitment, faces questions about its pace and impact.
- California Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled LA Rises in January 2025, aiming to unite the private sector and philanthropists for Southern California’s wildfire recovery.
- Dodgers chairman Mark Walter initially pledged up to $100 million through his family foundation and the Dodgers Foundation.
- As of one year later, LA Rises had distributed $20 million, including $7.8 million from Walter’s family foundation.
- Experts suggest the initiative’s progress has been slower than expected, given Los Angeles’s philanthropic capacity.
Not long after fires ravaged Pacific Palisades and Altadena, Newsom summoned reporters and television cameras to Dodger Stadium. He stood behind a podium in a stadium parking lot, with a sweeping view of Los Angeles as the backdrop, to unveil LA Rises.
The most valuable player that day was Mark Walter, the Dodgers’ chairman and controlling owner. Walter, along with his family foundation and the Dodgers’ foundation, announced a commitment of up to $100 million as “an initial commitment” to LA Rises, according to a statement from the governor’s office.
“We should clap for that,” Dodgers co-owner Magic Johnson told the assembled media. “A hundred million dollars, that’s an outstanding thing.”
One year later, the initiative has struggled to gain traction amidst a multitude of wildfire relief efforts. According to Newsom’s office, LA Rises has distributed $20 million to date, with $7.8 million coming from Walter’s family foundation.
“If it’s a number of 20 million after one year, after such a severe occurrence, and with Los Angeles having the giving capacity to meet that goal, I would have expected to hear that there had been more commitments, at a minimum,” said Casey Rogers, founder of Santa Barbara-based Telea Insights, which advises philanthropists and leaders of nonprofit organizations. “Maybe not all of those commitments would have been paid. Maybe they would have been commitments over a number of years. But it would have been closer to the goal.”
Walter remains committed to his pledge, Dodgers president Stan Kasten said. A representative from Newsom’s office clarified that Walter’s pledge did not include a specific timeline.
“I know we haven’t spent the full 100 yet,” Kasten said, “but this is a long-term commitment.”
Rather than immediately soliciting large donations and then deciding how to allocate the funds, LA Rises prioritizes identifying “impactful opportunities for investment” as they emerge and then “coordinate financial support from a variety of private, public and philanthropic donors, including the Walter Family Foundation,” explained Dee Dee Myers, director of Newsom’s office of business and economic development.
To date, $5 million from the Walter foundation has been allocated to grants for impacted small businesses, workers, and nonprofits, with $2.8 million specifically designated for Pasadena City College to modernize and expand technical education programs aimed at training workers for rebuilding efforts.
LA Rises has also funded programs offering day camps and mental health support to children affected by the fires, streamlined architectural planning and permitting processes for survivors seeking to rebuild, and provided support for Habitat for Humanity in constructing new homes and repairing damaged ones.
“The administration is incredibly grateful for any philanthropic dollars that have gone towards the rebuilding efforts in Los Angeles,” Myers said.
The competition for these funds is intense. The Milken Institute reported that private giving toward wildfire relief—from individuals, corporations, and other entities—totaled nearly $1 billion last year.
“I know there has been a lot of money that has been paid to various programs,” Kasten said, “and there has also been some rethinking about how LA Rises is deployed and what foundational money from the Dodgers is used for. We continue to work hard with a lot of groups on that tragedy.
“There are talks ongoing about a variety of programs and a variety of ways of funding things. We are still very involved with this, both with LA Rises and other entities.”
Kasten did not rule out Walter potentially redirecting some or all of his remaining funding commitment to an organization outside of LA Rises.
“I don’t know exactly what entity we will be formally engaged with—or doing it separately—but we’re absolutely committed to helping out those programs that need that kind of help,” he said. “We’ve done a lot of it already, and we can do a lot more.”
