New fund supports local nonprofits advancing wildfire resilience and nature restoration, ocean protection, and cooling solutions across Los Angeles 

Los Angeles, CA (May 18, 2026) — Building on the foundational Impact and Sustainability Plan, today the LA28 Organizing Committee announced the inaugural cohort of the LA28 Resilience Champions Fund. This new initiative is designed to invest in local nonprofit organizations in the region that are committed to building a more resilient Los Angeles for generations to come. The Fund is just one pillar of the LA28 Resilience Champions Initiative, which will also drive action through pre-Games volunteerism in the communities where the Games will be held. 

The LA28 Resilience Champions Fund supports local projects across three priority areas: wildfire resilience and nature restoration, ocean protection, and cooling solutions. These efforts will address the environmental challenges facing Angelenos, particularly in communities most impacted by extreme heat, wildfire risk, and environmental degradation. 

“Resilience is built in communities and sustained through collective action,” said Reynold Hoover, LA28 Chief Executive Officer. “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.” 

Meet the 2026 LA28 Resilience Champions Fund Grantees 

LA28 is proud to introduce its first Resilience Champions. These regionally based nonprofits were selected for their expertise, deep community partnerships, and strong alignment with one or more of the Fund’s pillars. Their projects will be based around the communities that the Games will be held in. Together, these organizations represent a diverse portfolio of projects that bring together environmental action and community health to strengthen resilience where Angelenos live, work, and play. 

• Active SGV: Transforming unused school space into a vibrant, cooling community asset by installing native shade trees, natural seating and recreational play features, expanding access to green space in El Monte. 
   

• Amigos de los Rios: Expanding urban tree canopy and installing green infrastructure adjacent to the Whittier Narrows Recreation Area, within the Whittier Narrows Zone, to improve visitor access, reduce heat, and enhance resilience. 
   

• Chrysalis: Reducing wildfire risk in the Sepulveda Basin in the Valley Zone by deploying a trained resilience workforce to remove hazardous fuels while creating pathways to stable environmental jobs. 
   

• Climate Resolve: Transforming a Boyle Heights basketball court near the DTLA Zone into a climate-ready sports hub with a cool basketball court and shaded seating that reduce heat risk and engaging local youth through training programs that build leadership and career pathways in resilience. 
   

• Conservation Corps of Long Beach: Training young adults in coastal conservation by restoring wetlands, coastal habitats, and coastal public trails across the shoreline near the Long Beach Zone. 
  
  
• LA Community Garden Council: Converting community gardens into permanent, resident‑run cooling hubs in heat vulnerable neighborhoods. The gardens span from Sunland-Tujunga to East Hollywood to South Los Angeles.  
  
  
• The Los Angeles Urban League: Training youth from fire-affected areas in Pasadena/Altadena within the Pasadena Zone in wildfire resilience and green construction while supporting communities impacted by the 2025 wildfires. 
   

• Santa Monica Mountains Fund: Installing a dense native micro-forest in Westwood, adjacent to the Olympic and Paralympic Village, to deliver cooling and restore habitat. 

The grant period for these projects starts now, with $100,000 in funding per project. LA28 collaborated with Community Partners and an advisory group of local experts to select the award recipients, ensuring decisions were grounded in community need and local expertise. The advisory group is made up of leaders representing the public, academic, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors. 

Introducing a new LA28 Custom Emblem  

LA28 is also introducing its official LA28 Resilience Champions emblem, a symbol representing the three pillars of the LA28 Resilience Champions initiative. Conceptually tied to land, water, and the sun, the emblem reflects the natural elements that shape Los Angeles and the spirit and power of working together to build a more resilient region. It signals action, collective responsibility, and optimism for a more resilient future, illustrated by the three elements rising together.  

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ABOUT THE LA28 OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES   
LA28 will bring the Olympic and Paralympic Games to Los Angeles in 2028, uniting more than 15,000 of the world's greatest athletes in a celebration of sport, culture and human potential. Set against a diverse collection of venues only Southern California can deliver, from the Pacific Ocean to Hollywood stages to world-class arenas, Los Angeles will become the third city ever to host three Olympic Games, following 1932 and 1984, and will also host its first ever Paralympic Games. The LA28 Games will celebrate historic milestones including becoming the first Olympic Games in history to allocate more quota spots to women athletes than men, the debut of new Olympic and Paralympic sports and becoming the first Games since 1948 to not build any new permanent infrastructure. Operating as an independently funded, non-profit organization, LA28 has built a strong foundation of successful commercial partnerships, alongside licensing, hospitality and ticketing, with the support of the International Olympic Committee.     

ABOUT COMMUNITY PARTNERS 
Community Partners is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit intermediary organization and fiscal sponsor that works to foster, launch, and grow creative solutions to community challenges. For over 30 years, hundreds of individuals, groups, foundations, government agencies and other institutions have worked with Community Partners to create new nonprofit projects, establish coalitions, connect with constituents, and manage major regional and statewide philanthropic initiatives. Community Partners’ mission is to nurture and accelerate ideas into action to strengthen communities.