LOS ANGELES — Two sisters committed up to $20 million on Tuesday night to bankroll the long-term expansion of Holocaust Museum LA, marking the single largest contribution in the institution's 65-year history.
Philanthropists Andrea Goldrich Cayton and Melinda Goldrich announced the multi-million-dollar pledge at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills during the museum’s annual gala. The funding honours their late father, Jona Goldrich, a real estate developer and Holocaust survivor who helped build the institution into a major educational anchor. The package splits into two tranches: an outright $10 million injection wired immediately, paired with an aggressive $10 million challenge grant designed to crowd in outside capital over the next three years.
The museum moved fast.
Under terms finalized for the challenge mechanism, the sisters will match every incoming pledge exceeding $25,000 dollar-for-dollar until December 31, 2027. Museum leadership plans to deploy the capital to anchor educational outreach across Southern California and stabilize campus operations at the Goldrich Cultural Center, the umbrella complex that houses the museum.
| Funding Component | Financial Allocation | Operating Mechanism | Execution Window |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct Principal Gift | $10,000,000 | Unrestricted institutional endowment | Immediate transfer |
| Challenge Matching Grant | Up to $10,000,000 | 1:1 match for contributions over $25,000 | Active through Dec 31, 2027 |
| Total Maximum Commitment | $20,000,000 | Combined direct & catalytic funding | 2024–2027 |
Institutional leadership framed the windfall as transformational. The museum operates in an era marked by dwindling numbers of living eyewitnesses to Nazi atrocities, sharpening the demand for permanent civic education.
CEO Beth Kean made the stakes explicit before hundreds of civic leaders gathered at the Beverly Wilshire.
This commitment will ensure The Goldrich thrives for future generations, carrying forward Jona Goldrich's legacy and deepest wishes.
Beth Kean, CEO of the Goldrich Cultural Center
Andrea Goldrich Cayton underscored that the funding addresses an urgent pedagogical gap, linking the memory of European genocide directly to student workshops in Los Angeles classrooms.
"In memory of those we lost, my sister and I have joined in this mission as a legacy to our father," Goldrich Cayton said. "The ongoing education provided by this museum and campus is something we feel we must support."
Halting silence followed her remarks. Melinda Goldrich affirmed that the physical campus represents the final fruition of their father's lifelong ambition — a permanent civic bastion for public learning, community integration, and historical conscience.
Actor Emmanuelle Chriqui hosted the Tuesday evening gathering, while prominent real estate executive and civic figure Rick Caruso served as the event's honorary chair. The board utilized the gathering to pin major civic honors on key architects behind the museum's physical footprint and cultural programming.
Architect Hagy Belzberg received the Jona Goldrich Visionary Award. A veteran board member, Belzberg drafted the structural designs for both the original Holocaust Museum LA facility in Pan Pacific Park and its current expanded campus pavilion.
Sports executive Alan Rothenberg took home the Roz and Abner Goldstine Advocacy Award for spearheading the museum's sports history initiative. Rothenberg — who served as chief executive of the 1994 FIFA World Cup in California and co-founded Major League Soccer — chaired the committee that curated "The Beautiful Game… The Untold Story", an exhibition examining soccer through wartime survival, resistance, and propaganda. Jennifer Solomon, co-chair of the institution's docent corps, accepted the Legacy Award for sustained volunteer leadership across decades of student tours.