Liberty Hill Foundation Celebrates LA Organizers & Social Justice Champions at 41st Annual Upton Sinclair Celebration

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Apr 30, 2024, 15:17 ET

LOS ANGELES, April 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Liberty Hill Foundation celebrated its 41st Annual Upton Sinclair Celebration honoring frontline organizers and changemakers fighting for systemic change in Los Angeles on April 17, 2024.

Liberty Hill Foundation honored L.A. changemakers Social Justice Learning Institute's Derek Steele (left), philanthropist and donor activist Celia Bernstein (center left), L.A. City Councilmember of District One Eunisses Hernandez (center right), and Grammy nominated singer-songwriter and activist Aloe Blacc (right) at the 41st Annual Upton Sinclair Celebration on April 17, 2024.

The foundation's signature event celebrated frontline organizers, community leaders, and donor activists who have contributed to progressive victories in Los Angeles County. Under this year's theme, "On the Road to Change," the foundation recognized four honorees who have dedicated their lives to the fight for social justice and championed victories that have made Los Angeles more just and equitable for all.

Honorees included donor activist and community leader Celia Bernstein, who received the Founders Award, Derek Steele, the Executive Director of Social Justice Learning Institute, who received the Changemaker Award for his leadership, as well as Grammy nominated singer-songwriter and social justice activist Aloe Blacc, recipient of the Creative Vision Award, and long-standing community activist and Los Angeles City Councilmember of District One Eunisses Hernandez, this year's Upton Sinclair Award Honoree and keynote speaker.

Hosted at the Skirball Cultural Center, the celebration highlighted the power of community and the progress led by L.A. organizers in the local fights for youth justice, environmental justice, housing and economic justice and LGBTQ and gender justice. Event guests in attendance included Los Angeles City Councilmember of District Six Imelda Padilla, Los Angeles City Councilmember of District Eight Marqueece Harris-Dawson, California Assemblymember of the 55th District Isaac Bryan, and Liberty Hill Co-Founder Sarah Pillsbury.

The evening's program included live performances by local musical ensemble the Los Angeles Community Action Network's The Freedom Singers, along with the premier of the "On the Road to Change" film highlighting the frontline organizers and the movements that are powering social changing in Los Angeles and beyond.

For more information about Liberty Hill's 41st Annual Upton Sinclair Celebration, please contact Courtney Kassel, Chief Communications Officer, at [email protected].

About Liberty Hill Foundation
Liberty Hill Foundation is a laboratory for social change philanthropy. We leverage the power of community organizers, donor activists, and allies to advance social justice through strategic investment in grants, leadership training, and campaigns. We envision a society in which all people have a powerful voice, including those currently shut out of our democracy, people cut off from opportunities because of their skin color, gender or sexual orientation, where they live, or where they were born. We will not rest until society provides justice and equality for all.

SOURCE Liberty Hill Foundation