LA is the Best Place to Play

We are pleased to announce the two winners who will each receive $100,000 to implement their projects:

• Top Voted: Grand Park
• Jury Voted: People for Parks

This is an open call for ideas. Play in LA means access to clean, safe, and sustainable venues to enjoy the natural environment. It means equal access to the arts and cultural resources. It means opportunities for residents to enjoy our local beaches, waterways, and open space.

How can your idea increase access to vibrant park space in our neighborhoods? To afterschool enrichment programs? For this challenge, we want to discover ideas that will make LA the best place to play today and in 2050. What does play look like? Here are the LA2050 “Play” Metrics:

Access to open space and park facilities
• Number of children enrolled in afterschool programs
• Per capita crime rates
• Percentage of residents that feel safe in their neighborhoods
• Attendance at major league sporting events
• Residents within 1⁄4 mile of a park (Dream Metric)
• Number of residents with easy access to a “vibrant” park (Dream Metric)
• Number of parks with intergenerational play opportunities (Dream Metric)
• Number (and quality) of informal spaces for play (Dream Metric)

Tell us how your idea, project, or program can help Los Angeles become the best place in the world to play.

Submit an application between Tuesday September 8th, 12:00pm (noon Pacific Time) and Tuesday October 6th, 12:00pm (noon Pacific Time). Your application will go through a moderation process to ensure that your project adheres to all challenge rules. From Tuesday October 20th, 12:00pm (noon Pacific Time) to Tuesday November 3rd, 12:00pm (noon Pacific Time), we’ll open challenge submissions to public voting. Rally your colleagues and friends to get behind your effort and join the public in selecting the winners. The jury will select two winners per category. One winner will be chosen from the top 10 voted submissions – which means you need to be in the top 10 to win. A second winner will be chosen from all submissions.

And don’t forget to get your application in early! LA2050 will showcase submissions as they are accepted up until voting begins (between Tuesday September 8th, 12:00pm noon Pacific Time and Tuesday October 20th, 12:00pm noon Pacific Time).

Connect with LA2050 on LA2050.org, Twitter, and Facebook and join the conversation via #LA2050. Stay updated with the challenge by subscribing to the LA2050 newsletter here.

SUBMISSION TIPS:

• If you don't see your submission here, don't panic! Your application is going through the moderation process, and will show up on the site over the next few days if it is approved.
• Share how your idea will impact the LA2050 Goal of making LA the best place to play. How will your proposal impact the metrics?
• Describe how the $100,000 award will enable you to implement your proposal.
• Include a photo or video that represents your idea or organization. Photos should be in JPG, PNG, or GIF format, at least 570 × 345 pixels and no larger than 10MB. To include a video, use a YouTube URL.
• Check out the LA2050 Goals, the LA2050 Report, and the My LA2050 White Paper for additional information.

VOTING TIPS:

• Voting begins on Tuesday, October 20th, 12:00pm (noon Pacific Time) and closes Tuesday, November 3rd, 12:00pm (noon Pacific Time).
• You can vote for one proposal in each category.
• In order to vote, you must be at least 18 years old and a US resident.
• In order to vote, log in with your GOOD account.
• If you don’t have a GOOD account, it’s free to join. All you need is an email address or a Facebook account to register. You will be emailed a link that you need to click in order to validate your address.
• We suggest using either Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome browsers when casting a vote.
• If you have any questions, please review these FAQs or send us an email at maker@goodinc.com.

SELECTION PROCESS:

• The jury will select two winners per category:
  • One winner will be chosen from the top 10 of voted submissions – which means you need to be in the top 10 of your category to win.
  • One winner will be selected from all submissions by the jury.
• Applications will be selected using the following criteria: impact on the LA2050 goal, creativity and innovation, feasibility, and community support.
• Projects will be featured on this page and public voting will be open from Tuesday October 20th, 12:00pm (noon Pacific Time) to Tuesday November 3rd, 12:00pm (noon Pacific Time).

• This Challenge is open for submissions from Tuesday September 8th 12:00pm (noon Pacific Time) to Tuesday October 6th 12:00pm (noon Pacific Time).
• US-based non-profit, for-profit, and government organizations with projects serving Los Angeles County are eligible to apply.
• Funds for the project must be spent within twelve months.
• Submitted projects must impact Los Angeles County.
• Proposals will be featured on this page and public voting will be open from Tuesday October 20th 12:00pm (noon Pacific Time) to Tuesday November 3rd 12:00pm (noon Pacific Time).
• One winner will be selected by a jury from the top 10 voted projects in each category.
• One winner will be selected by a jury from all projects in each category.
• Ongoing projects are eligible for submission.
• Applications will be selected using the following criteria: impact on the LA2050 goal, creativity and innovation, feasibility, and community support.
• All winners of the My LA2050 Grants Challenge will be grantees of the Goldhirsh Foundation and will be required to participate in at least one check-in with a Goldhirsh Foundation team member per month.
• Read all the rules.

WHY SHOULD I APPLY?

Besides the prospect of winning $100,000 – there are other major benefits to applying. Applicants have reported several benefits to participating in the My LA2050 Grants Challenge, including:

• The opportunity to create or crystallize a new idea or project
• Increased awareness and exposure around your proposal
• Increased understanding of the LA social impact landscape
• The opportunity to cultivate and build new relationships with peers
• The opportunity to learn how to tell a compelling story about your organization’s impact
• Real-time feedback loops from your peers
• Inspires the creation of videos, photos, tweets, and pithy messaging to promote your proposal
• Visibility in front of other foundations and potential alternative funding sources
• Some 2014 winners had non-winning proposals in 2013