Friends of EXPO Center

The Friends of EXPO Center (Friends) is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization that is engaged in a unique partnership with the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks (RAP). Through this collaboration, the Friends supports the recreational, sports, cultural, and educational programs that are provided by EXPO Center, an intergenerational recreation center managed by RAP for the benefit of residents in the economically disadvantaged community of Exposition Park in south Los Angeles.

EXPO Center was built through an extraordinary collaboration between private sector funders (Weingart Foundation, Ahmanson Foundation, W.M. Keck Foundation, LA84 Foundation, and Ralph M. Parsons Foundation) and the City of Los Angeles to develop the site of the 1932 Olympic Swim Stadium into a state-of-the-art recreational and community center.  Since its opening in 2004, the facility has been managed by the Department of Recreation and Parks and supported by the Friends, which has continued to provide leadership and financial support to maintain this valued resource for the residents of South Los Angeles.  Its 32-member Board of Directors is composed of high-level community and business leaders.  In 2007, the Friends funded a comprehensive Community Needs Assessment Study that surveyed more than 1,000 local residents through phone interviews and focus groups and elicited valuable feedback about the programs and services needed by the community.  Since the Study’s completion, the Friends has facilitated working partnerships with several “best practices” organizations in order to bring innovative and cost-effective programs to EXPO Center. 

The Friends enables EXPO Center to successfully continue its programs despite municipal budget limitations. Without the funds that The Friends raises, many afterschool, weekend, and summer programs for young people would not be possible.