KCRW to Expand Coverage
of Underserved Communities in Los Angeles
with a $1 Million Grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
This is the Foundation’s First Large Grant to Public Media
SANTA MONICA, CA (January 20, 2015)—The Los Angeles-based Conrad N. Hilton Foundation awarded Southern California’s acclaimed public radio station, KCRW, a $1 million grant to develop a new multi-year documentary and reporting series examining issues affecting the lives of LA’s neediest residents and underserved communities.
The Foundation’s grant will support KCRW’s news team as they take an intimate look into the lives of Angelenos and find and tell stories illustrating the challenges faced by the city’s most disadvantaged and marginalized residents.
“The Hilton Foundation’s unprecedented support to KCRW will deepen our ability to tell important stories that require time, depth and analysis,” said Jennifer Ferro, President of KCRW.
“Our goal with this gift is to produce important and compelling stories that shed light on the people who find themselves at the edges of our community. This effort is a major part of the station’s ongoing expansion of original programming through our Capital Campaign.”
The Hilton Foundation’s grant comes after KCRW’s emphasis on new award-winning reporting and storytelling projects produced in-house or as part of the station’s Independent Producer Project.
“We’re pleased to partner with KCRW, because the radio station and the nonprofit team that runs it are an integral part of our local community,” said Steven M. Hilton, Chairman, President and CEO of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. “We hope our funding will allow the team to produce even more content about vulnerable populations and social issues affecting our region.”
The Hilton Foundation’s grant marks the foundation’s first grant to KCRW and their first large grant to public media.
The gift supports efforts to advance KCRW’s public service mission by expanding original programming—a key goal of the station’s $48 million Capital Campaign.
The Campaign is KCRW’s first major fundraising initiative and is designed to support the construction of a new 35,000-square-foot KCRW Media Center and investments in new programming and technology.
To date, KCRW has secured $36 million, including $28 million from Santa Monica College, licensee of KCRW, with funding from 2008 Bond Measure AA.
Other supporters of the Capital Campaign include the Annenberg Foundation, The Ahmanson Foundation, The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, W.M. Keck Foundation, Kayne Foundation (Ric & Suzanne Kayne and Jenni, Maggie & Saree), The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation and Santa Barbara Foundation.
To learn more about KCRW’s Capital Campaign, visit kcrw.com/campaign.
Contact: Connie Alvarez
connie.alvarez@kcrw.org
310 314 4673
ABOUT KCRW
KCRW creates and curates a unique mix of content centered around music discovery, NPR news, cultural exploration and informed public affairs. KCRW is driven by the spirit of Los Angeles and delivers in innovative ways – on the radio, digitally and in person – to diverse, curious communities around the corner and around the world. A community service of Santa Monica College, KCRW can be found on the air in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Mojave, Palm Springs, and via five KCRW-developed smartphone apps and online at kcrw.com.
ABOUT THE CONRAD N. HILTON FOUNDATION
The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation was created in 1944 by international business pioneer Conrad N. Hilton, who founded Hilton Hotels and left his fortune to help the world’s disadvantaged and vulnerable people. The Foundation currently conducts strategic initiatives in six priority areas: providing safe water, ending chronic homelessness, preventing substance abuse, helping children affected by HIV and AIDS, supporting transition-age youth in foster care, and extending Conrad Hilton’s support for the work of Catholic Sisters. In addition, following selection by an independent international jury, the Foundation annually awards the $1.5 million Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize to a nonprofit organization doing extraordinary work to reduce human suffering. From its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than $1 billion in grants, distributing $92 million in the U.S. and around the world in 2013. The Foundation’s current assets are approximately $2.4 billion. For more information, please visit www.hiltonfoundation.org.