With Garcetti Leaving, the LA Mayor’s Fund Ends its First Chapter. What’s it Done, and What’s Next?

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti. Featureflash Photo Agency/shutterstock

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden nominated Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti as the U.S. Ambassador to India. Garcetti, who served as Biden’s campaign co-chair, had long been rumored to be under consideration for a role in the new administration.

Although racial justice advocates protested a potential cabinet role for Garcetti in the past, particularly when it was rumored that he was under consideration for Secretary of Transportation, it’s unlikely the pushback will impact Garcetti’s ascent, which will take place following the Senate confirmation process later this year. Garcetti’s departure will almost certainly have an impact on Los Angeles, however, and one question is how a change in administration will affect the L.A. Mayor’s Fund.

Established in 2014, roughly a year after Garcetti first took office in 2013, the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles is a nonprofit that works to raise money to support a variety of programs dedicated to helping Angelenos. The fund is just one example of the rise of sometimes-controversial public-private partnerships in support of cities’ priorities, with mayors tapping into philanthropic dollars to back up stretched government budgets.

This will be the first administration change the L.A. fund goes through, and as such, it remains to be seen just how much of an impact, if any, it will have on the organization’s work—Garcetti has raised tens of millions for the fund. For Mayor’s Fund President and CEO Deidre Lind, this change represents a “critical opportunity” to reflect on the impact the fund’s more than 50 programs have driven during its seven and a half years of existence.

“It’s been wonderful to work with such an incredible team of experts in the Garcetti administration and with Mayor Garcetti, who had such a keen focus on the issues facing Angelenos,” said Lind. “And I think that the fund is ready for a new mayor, whoever that might be.”

Public-private partnerships

The L.A. Mayor’s Fund launched as an organization housed within the California Community Foundation. At the end of 2014, it spun off as its own independent nonprofit.

According to Lind, the fund was modeled after New York City’s private-public collaborations through the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City. Established in 1994 under Rudy Giuliani, the fund has operated under three administrations, including that of mega-donor and former presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg, who reorganized and renamed the fund in 2002. Another prominent example is the Mayor’s Fund for Philadelphia, which has existed in some capacity since 1979.

Although mayor’s funds have enjoyed varying levels of success, some critics have called into question their independence. As 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, they are not required to disclose their full lists of donors or amounts donated, although any giving over $5,000 in one year must be made public under California law (the L.A Mayor’s Fund website offers a partial list of donors). Ethics watchdogs have expressed concern that these funds may be used to circumvent campaign finance laws or to win favor with mayors.

Lind, however, stressed the L.A. Mayor’s Fund’s independence from Garcetti. “He is a resource and he is an incredible partner of our work, but as an organization, we are completely independent,” she said.

The fund’s board of directors isn’t expected to change with the administration. “I believe our board remains committed to this work now and into the future,” said Lind. She added that if any individual does step down, that would be on their own volition and not as the direct result of any change in administration.

The efficacy of mayor’s funds vary from administration to administration. In New York, for example, the fund raised tens of millions of dollars in the years following the Sept. 11 attacks, according to the New York Times. Part of that influx came from Bloomberg himself, who made large donations to the fund, and a surge of donations following Hurricane Sandy. Contributions have slowed under Mayor Bill de Blasio, whose wife, Chirlane McCray, chairs the fund.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Garcetti has raised more than $60 million for the fund, with donors ranging from corporations and foundations to individuals. During the pandemic, the fund received a flood of more than 12,500 donations totaling $72 million.

Supporters include the Walt Disney Company, Bank of America, the Annenberg Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the California Endowment, the U.S. Small Business Administration, and Google.

It remains to be seen whether Garcetti’s departure will affect fundraising. Lind, however, remains optimistic that the organization will continue to prosper. “We have an incredible board of diverse experts who are committed to seeing this organization through an administration change,” said Lind. “We have incredible donors and partners who continue to give to us.”

“Our partner is city government,” said Lind, “and city government is not going away.”

Before and during COVID

Although the Mayor’s Fund is its own separate entity, the fund does focus its efforts on the issues that matter most to the mayor’s office.

“We are the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles, and naturally, our work is very closely tied to the priorities of the mayor’s office and the mayoral administration,” Lind said.

The fund has four principal goals that align with the mayor’s vision for the city. These are: building government efficiency by identifying innovative solutions; improving the quality of life for Angelenos; promoting the economic prosperity of the region; and community resiliency and disaster relief.

Since its inception, the fund has raised money for more than 50 programs, including Summer Night Lights and HIRE LA’s Youth, and various programs focused on sustainability, veteran homelessness, and citizenship and immigration.

The pandemic has showcased the benefit of public-private collaborations, which can step up in times of crisis, with pooled funds in cities around the country supplementing relief efforts. One of the major benefits of this kind of collaboration, according to Lind, is that the Mayor’s Fund can launch new programs quickly, often before the city government can, to assist Angelenos.

This has always been one component of what the fund offers. One of the earliest of the organization’s efforts involved stepping in to repurchase holiday gifts for homebound seniors. In 2014, an apartment building fire impacted the building that housed the Department of Aging. The department had been collecting holiday gift bags for homebound seniors, which for many would be the only gift they would receive during the season. The Mayor’s Fund was able to activate a program whereby 1,500 Angelenos donated and provided resources to repurchase the gift bags.

The fund played a similar role during the COVID-19 pandemic. The city’s Department of Aging provides hot meals to homebound seniors through community centers. With the pandemic, seniors could not leave their homes. In response, the L.A. Mayor’s Fund activated a program delivering hot meals directly to seniors in their homes. Once federal resources became available, the city government was able to take over the program.

“We did exactly what nonprofit private resources are intended to do, which is to step in where government falls short, and we’re really proud of that fact because that’s exactly the right use of flexible private resources,” Lind said.

The fund was also able to provide assistance to domestic violence survivors through its Project Safe Haven. The project worked with hotels across the region, covering costs and getting survivors removed from their unsafe living conditions. The program also connected them with nonprofit resources in their communities to further assist them.

For proponents, organizations like the L.A. Mayor’s Fund are models of how private-public partnerships can work to overcome many of the obstacles that cities face.

“I believe in the power of cross-sector collaboration,” said Lind. “No one sector... can address the issues that Los Angeles faces by itself. And it really means that the nonprofit sector, the philanthropic sector, the business sector and government all have to work together.”

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