Moss Foundation
/OVERVIEW: Founded by the late Jerry Moss and his wife, Tina, the Moss Foundation makes between $1 and $2 million in grants annually, primarily to various Los Angeles area organizations.
IP TAKE: Moss Foundation's philanthropy is not quite as large-scale as his former business partner, Herb Alpert's, and the foundation does not have much of an online presence. Still, Moss has steadily supported several key interests over the years. It will be interesting to see if the Foundation continues to support its current interests following the death of its founder, Jerry Moss, in August 2023.
PROFILE: Established in 1990, the Moss Foundation was created by the late Jerry Moss. Moss grew up in the Bronx, received a degree in English from Brooklyn College, and served briefly in the army before moving to Los Angeles to become a music promoter. With Herb Alpert, he formed A&M Records. Releasing artists such as Carole King, Joe Cocker, and Peter Frampton, A&M became the world’s largest independent record label in less than a decade. It was eventually purchased by Polygram in 1989. In 2006, Alpert and Moss were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for their contributions to the music industry.
Grants for Los Angeles and SoCal
As a Foundation created by a music mogul, Moss unsurprisingly supports music and arts philanthropy. In Los Angeles, this has included grants to Hammer Museum, Geffen Playhouse, the Los Angeles Opera Company, and the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County, MoCA, LACMA and Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, a non-profit which provides musical instruments. Annually, grants rarely exceed $50,000.
The foundation also supports music education, including Adopt the Arts Foundation in West Hollywood, a nonprofit founded by a former Guns N' Roses drummer that supports arts programs in public elementary schools, and A Window Between Worlds in Venice, an arts program for domestic violence victims. It has also made grants to New Roads School in Santa Monica, where in 2013, the Ann and Jerry Moss Theater opened to the public. The space is part of the larger Herb Alpert Educational Village on the school's campus. In 2020, the foundation donated $25,000,000 to The Music Center in downtown Los Angeles.
While Moss attended Brooklyn College in New York, his foundation has been a regular supporter of UCLA. Moss is a member of the UCLA Board of Visitors of the School of the Arts and Architecture. In 2004, the couple established the Moss Scholarship at the School of Arts and Architecture with at least $500,000. In recent years, Moss has made grants to UCLA organizations such as UCLA Center for East West Medicine, UCLA Athletics Department, and UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television.
In health, Moss has made grants to Los Angeles organizations such as Cedars Sinai Medical Center and City of Hope. It has also supported various local media organizations such as KCET and KCRW.
Environment and animal welfare are other significant areas of grantmaking, though much of this philanthropy takes place outside of Los Angeles. Moss was long-time thoroughbred horse breeder and owner, and his horses have won the Kentucky Derby and Breeder’s Cup. Moss has served as the California Horse Racing Board commissioner in the past.
Important Grant Details
The Moss Foundation does not have a website or offer a clear way for grant seekers to get in touch.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
CONTACT:
Moss Foundation
421 N. Beverly Drive
Suite 260
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
rbarchie@themossfoundation.org
