Gerun Riley is president of the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, a role she has held since 2016 after 13 years working for the Broads – who have given more than $4 billion to education, science, the arts and Los Angeles. Along the way, they founded institutions including The Broad museum downtown and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Today, the foundation’s local grantmaking aims to expand economic mobility through education, workforce pathways and stronger civic institutions, from after-school learning programs to health care career pipelines. Riley answered the Business Journal’s questions in writing about the foundation’s priorities and what a more coordinated philanthropic community could look like in L.A.
The foundation has led many initiatives over the years, under your leadership, investing in education, science and the arts. What drives the foundation’s focus and mission when it comes to meeting these funding needs?
Eli and Edythe Broad’s approach to philanthropy has always centered on big, life-changing ideas and the leaders who can realize those aspirations. Today, we carry that philosophy and spirit in our stewardship of the institutions we have founded in education, science and the arts, together with our active grantmaking in Los Angeles. Our decisions and strategy always come back to three fundamental questions: Will the investment make a difference 20 years from now? Do we have the people in place to make it happen? Would it happen without us?
The foundation has the “Investing in the Future of Los Angeles” initiative, which I believe was launched in 2021. What can you share in regard to what the foundation has been able to accomplish locally under this grantmaking pillar?
Our focus has evolved through listening and learning from the people closest to the problems we want to solve, but our goal remains lasting, systemic change that will expand economic mobility through education, workforce pathways and stronger civic institutions. We look for opportunities where philanthropy can take an early risk, connect institutions and help realize dreams and potential for our city’s young people.
When we pivoted to focus on the future of Los Angeles, we heard a consistent need for improving our schools but also for high-quality learning outside the school day, stronger STEM opportunities and more pathways to good jobs, including options beyond a traditional four-year degree. That demand and desire has not waned over the past five years, but we are encouraged by some bright spots:
Young people spend 80% of their time outside of the school day, yet three in five L.A. children lack access to quality expanded learning programs. To address this gap, we seeded ExpandLA, the first countywide organization focused on increasing access to quality school and community-based expanded learning opportunities. The ExpandLA network of 500 providers has successfully advocated for increased investment in the sector, developed a framework to define quality and capture impact and is exploring a registered apprenticeship program to strengthen the youth development workforce.
If our goal is economic mobility, we have to supplement our public K-12 work with post-secondary options. Paradigm Shift is a good example of philanthropy using its convening power to bring key stakeholders together — the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce and its CEO Council, L.A.’s major health systems and community colleges — to develop training and pathways for high-demand health care roles. When business and education design solutions together, young people benefit from their coordination and ambition.
Likewise, Compton Community Health Professions Partnership brings together local schools, colleges, universities and healthcare employers to create a continuum from middle school through college and into health care careers. Employer partners including Kedren Health, St. John’s Community Health and Watts Healthcare are connecting education and training to clinical experience, apprenticeships and employment.
After research that showed many Angelenos do not have access to the news necessary for navigating daily life, we partnered with other foundations to launch The LA Local, a nonprofit network of community newsrooms across L.A. County, which is now serving more than 1 million Angelenos with daily reporting they can use to inform their decisions and hold leaders accountable.
All said, in addition to embracing our founders’ philosophy about grantmaking, we also adopt their mindset that our community’s problems are real and urgent, so celebrating accomplishments is just a footnote to our day. There’s much work to do.
What would a more coordinated philanthropic community look like in L.A.?
No two philanthropic organizations are the same, and the world benefits from having different charitable perspectives, approaches and goals. What we do all share is an inability to independently move the needle in any significant way. So coordinating, not just with other foundations but with business, government and nonprofits, is essential to lasting change.
The business community is especially important. Employers should not be asked to validate workforce programs after they have been designed. They should help shape curriculum and training from the beginning, provide work-based learning and hire the people those pathways prepare.
Some of the best philanthropic organizations were started by business leaders and entrepreneurs who are driven by thinking outside the box to solve problems. Eli Broad found his fourth career as a philanthropist to be profoundly gratifying (albeit frustrating at times), and we hope others will follow his lead, roll up their sleeves and join us. There’s plenty of work to do, so we welcome any newcomers to the business of hope.
