Gavin Newsom announces LA Rises philanthropic initiative to aid wildfire recovery efforts
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that he has created a philanthropic group to shore up private resources to help state and local officials as the Los Angeles area begins to recover from a series of wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes and claimed 28 lives.
Newsom tapped former Los Angeles Laker Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Los Angeles Dodgers chairman Mark Walter, and Olympics 2028 organizer Casey Wasserman to lead LA Rises, which will solicit donations from the private sector to aid state and local cleanup and rebuilding efforts.
“It’s about their creativity, their capacity to take a look anew at the process of recovery,” Newsom said a press conference at Dodger Stadium. “It’s about [seeking] the best and most modern strategies for financing and developing new procurement strategies, to address the issue of cost and address the issue of logistics in a completely fresh and dynamic and distinctive way.”
The news comes as California faces uncertainty about when the federal government may reimburse it for disaster relief aid. President Donald Trump, aided by his Republican allies, has said he will only release federal funds if California overhauls its water and immigration policies.
On Tuesday afternoon, a federal judge ordered the administration to halt the freezing of funds. The same day, state officials debunked Trump’s false claim that he had sent the military to California to “turn the water on.”
Newsom embraced his political foe last week after Trump, who initially snubbed him, arrived in Los Angeles to survey the wildfire damage and meet with local officials. On Tuesday, Newsom reiterated his belief that the federal government would eventually come through on disaster aid, citing his and Trump’s collaboration during the pandemic.
“I continue to have all the confidence in the world,” he told reporters. “I’m firmly focused on building that partnership and strengthening our collaborative spirit.”
Newsom said LA Rises would act as a “portal” to harness the millions of dollars that community groups, nonprofits, philanthropists, and others have donated since the fires broke out earlier this month. Johnson said he was confident victims would respond well to the trust his “brand” has built as local and state officials have battled online misinformation about the fires.
Los Angeles will host the 2028 Olympics, adding more urgency to the city’s plans to rebuild homes and businesses after the most destructive infernos in state history.
Wasserman said LA Rises would provide a chance for Los Angeles to “grow our way out of [the fires] economically and operationally.”
“If you think about the Olympics, the opportunity, it’s not just bringing the workforce here to prepare the city for the Olympics, it’s how do we incentivize people to move here?” Wasserman said. “And so it’s really about, how do you use these events to change the city forever? We’ll be here for 30 days in the summer of 2028 but our legacy is going to be changing the course of LA for a long time.”
LA Rises will strategize how to raise funds, provide public information on the recovery timeline, and work with other organizations to support the rebuilding effort. Walter has pledged an initial $100 million to LA Rises via his personal family foundation and the Dodgers Foundation. Newsom said California Rises, a statewide initiative founded in the aftermath of the 2018 Camp Fire, would also support the effort.
California Rises is a partnership between the governor’s Office of Emergency Services and the California Fire Foundation, a nonprofit led by the California Professional Firefighters union. Newsom has been soliciting donations for the fire foundation via his personal website.
This story was originally published January 28, 2025 at 2:46 PM.
