Wallis Annenberg

Wallis Annenberg is a visionary who uses philanthropy as a powerful instrument to improve the well-being of people and communities, not only by addressing vexing societal problems, but also by creating new pathways to fulfillment, excellence, and success. As she has said, “I’ve tried to focus not just on giving, but on innovating.”

Her innovative giving ranges from education to arts and culture, from medical research to environmental stewardship, from social justice to animal welfare — always guided by the Annenberg Foundation’s core values of community, compassion, diversity, and fairness.

She is a recipient of the 2022 National Humanities Medal, awarded by the President of the United States of America, which “honors an individual or organization whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the human experience, broadened citizens’ engagement with history or literature, or helped preserve and expand Americans’ access to cultural resources.”

Since assuming chairmanship of the Foundation in 2009, Wallis’ robust philanthropy has impacted thousands of nonprofits and other organizations. She has notably funded special projects that expand the boundaries of traditional philanthropy, including the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Agoura Hills, Calif., which upon completion (expected 2026) will be the world’s largest wildlife bridge. The crossing is named in recognition of her landmark conservation gift, and also her and the Annenberg Foundation’s long-term partnership supporting this visionary project since its earliest phases, starting with a $1 million challenge grant in 2016, which was leveraged into multiple million-dollar gifts.

It was Wallis’ idea and initiative that transformed a historic but dilapidated landmark in Santa Monica into the area’s only free, public beach house, now called the Annenberg Community Beach House. She also helped preserve a landmark post office building in Beverly Hills, now home to The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. Wallis has poured her lifelong affection and devotion to animals and the human-animal bond into the Wallis Annenberg PetSpace in Playa Vista, Calif. — creating a one-of-a-kind destination devoted to facilitating rescue animal adoptions, funding pet-owner education initiatives and academic research, and providing fun for visitors.