The line grew steadily outside the unassuming building on the north side of campus. It was almost closing time on a Thursday afternoon, and the students knew it was their last chance before the weekend to pick up supplies they needed to keep their studies on track. The supplies they received in red California State University, Northridge-branded bags were not textbooks, pens, or calculators, but rather something more basic: food. “Let’s see, today I got canned beans and pineapple, pasta, and tomato sauce,” said Swapnil Doshi, a first-year graduate engineering student, peering into his bag. He goes to the CSUN [...more...]

Los Angeles is rife with challenges. Meeting those challenges requires people and institutions willing to step up. For the Annenberg Foundation, that willingness is embedded in its DNA.  From the environment to housing and harnessing the incredible burgeoning of the tech industry locally, the Foundation has developed a successful strategy to gently, but clearly, challenge partners across the public and private sector into joining hands to accelerate change.  April 2022, Earth Day, was case-in-point. Political leaders including Governor Gavin Newsom, Senator Alex Padilla, and Congressman Ted Lieu had joined other electeds, nonprofit leaders, and foundation staff for the groundbreaking for [...more...]

Wallis Annenberg at a recent event hosted at The Wallis Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills Wallis Annenberg never set out to be a public person. Even today, as the head of a legendary family foundation (one of the 50 largest private foundations in the U.S.) she still feels most at home watching tennis or the women’s college world series, spending time with friends and family, and doing, what she calls, “the most ordinary things you can imagine.” But when it comes right down to it, there is really nothing ordinary about Wallis Annenberg the person nor the [...more...]

Ask Craig Knizek and Marco Rufo and they’ll tell you how their global “luxury lifestyle” real estate brokerage firm stands out in a few key ways. As Managing Partners at The Agency, they and their teams help clients buy and sell real estate that’s used as primary residences, investment properties, and for aspirational vacation destinations, including the Caribbean, Amsterdam, Canada, Hawaii, and Malibu, and across the entire Los Angeles basin.  Marco Rufo, Managing Partner of the Pacific Palisades office, celebrated Global Service Day with a beach clean-up event. They serve their communities not only professionally, but through their philanthropic efforts [...more...]

When Herb Scannell took the helm at Southern California Public Radio (SCPR) nearly four years ago, he found himself scribbling down the words “democracy needs to be heard.” The longtime industry executive, who once led Nickelodeon and BBC Worldwide America, had been thinking in early 2019 about the striking rise in partisanship and polarizing discourse playing out across the country. Scannell, SCPR’s president and CEO, had no idea then that the slogan he created, which was used in the company’s capital campaign brochure and radio messaging, would ring prophetic. The need for journalism to be “a stalwart of democracy” is [...more...]

In recent years, as racism, antisemitism, and bigotry have exploded around the world, the lessons of the Holocaust seem increasingly relevant. European Jews were among the first to experience a playbook of persecution increasingly copied by leaders in the U.S. and elsewhere. This includes a reliance on The Big Lie; the use of new media to divide and conquer; and a view of human history that dehumanizes the Other. Enter the Holocaust Museum LA, America’s oldest museum dedicated to one of the twentieth century’s most horrific genocides. Nestled in Pan Pacific Park between West L.A. and downtown, the now-iconic building [...more...]

Sage, personal guidance can help realize your goals, afford you the time to enjoy life to the fullest, while passing on a legacy that can endure generations. This journey requires a financial partner with a successful track record and expertise, plus that special commitment to understanding how its client-partners envision the positive mark on their family, community, and globe. Enter J.P. Morgan Private Bank, one of the globe’s leading wealth managers and Global Finance’s Best Private Bank in the World. While the $1.8 trillion in client assets, the 288,400 employees it hires, and the thousands of clients it serves suggest [...more...]

Rick Barragan, Los Angeles Market Manager, J.P. Morgan Private Bank For more than three decades, Rick Barragan held leadership positions that spanned J.P. Morgan’s vast investment bank. He helped global companies list their shares in the United States, ran a derivatives trading desk, and put together deals across the sports and entertainment groups. Today, he’s leading a different charge at the financial giant – aggressively expanding J.P. Morgan Private Bank’s presence in greater Los Angeles. Barragan’s clients are high-net-worth individuals and families. And instead of focusing just on maximizing clients’ returns, his job includes advising them on how to maximize [...more...]

BJ Goergen:Maloney Global Head of the Philanthropy Centre,J.P. Morgan Private Bank In addition to building a global powerhouse armed with specialists in investing, banking, lending, wealth management, and estate planning, JPMorgan Chase & Co. has assembled a world-class team dedicated to helping its Private Bank clients maximize their philanthropic impact. “It is part of the broader financial relationship,” says BJ Goergen Maloney, global head of the Private Bank’s Philanthropy Centre. “We take the philanthropy piece of that journey so clients can put their values into practice.” Journey is an important word for Maloney. J.P. Morgan Private Bank created the Philanthropy [...more...]

Ayla Kalani: Westlake Village and Santa Barbara Market Team Lead,J.P. Morgan Private Bank When Ayla Kalani joined J.P. Morgan Private Bank 10 years ago, the bank had high-net-worth clients throughout Southern California but only two offices to serve them. Today, the Private Bank recently expanded its presence to Santa Barbara, and no outpost is growing faster than the one on State Street. As other companies retrenched during the COVID-19 pandemic, J.P. Morgan set up shop in new locations.  “Two years ago, we decided it was the right time to get closer to this community, to really understand what’s keeping people [...more...]

Jeff Kreisler: Head of Behavioral Science, J.P. Morgan Private BankJamie Hackleman: Family Governance and Senior Philanthropy Advisor, J.P. Morgan Private Bank With 16 people on four continents, the J.P. Morgan Philanthropy Centre team has deep and diverse expertise from the nonprofit world, business, government, and even the field of behavioral science. “My purpose is to help both clients and advisors understand how emotion and psychology impact decision making so that ultimately our clients can make better decisions to reach their goals,” says Jeff Kreisler, the Private Bank’s head of behavioral science, who works on both investment and philanthropy strategies. A [...more...]

Deb Langford:Head of Black Wealth Initiatives,J.P. Morgan Private Bank Deb Langford was mindful of the impact of giving long before taking up her role as Head of Black Wealth Initiatives at J.P. Morgan. In her current function, Langford guides affluent members of the Black community in the growth and preservation of their wealth, and in leaving generational legacies. Following a career of driving results, excellence, and inclusion in media and entertainment, Langford pivoted to deliver enterprise-level outcomes in diversity initiatives.  Most recently, Langford was named a 2022 NAACP Changemaker Award honoree. Now that she has made her foray into the [...more...]

Nicholas Smith:Banker for J.P. Morgan Private Bank, Pasadena Each time a new geopolitical crisis unfolds, we see an outpouring of news headlines and posts of solidarity all over social media. Increasing awareness and giving philanthropically to support those suffering is crucial, but many people with the means to give philanthropically often don’t know where to start. It is important to set philanthropic goals and ensure that your donations have a lasting impact as part of your overall wealth management plan.  Identify Your Giving Goals Most people initially think to donate emergency relief items including food, water, clothing, shelter, and emergency [...more...]