Insight LA, Inc.

1430 Olympic Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90404
Website: insightla.org

Description of Organization

Insight LA is a meditation center teaching mindfulness practices throughout the Greater Los Angeles area. Their work is rooted in the 2,500-year-old Vipassana and Theravada Buddhist traditions. Insight LA’s efforts center around their mission of calming minds, opening hearts, and changing the world and is based on three pillars:

  1. Offerings to the general population of those seeking mindfulness meditation teachings, including sitting groups, free weekday drop-in groups, and classes, retreats, and events;
  2. Insight in Action, a community outreach program which offers meditation instruction to vulnerable populations, caregivers, and first responders;
  3. Stewardship of protected land in Benedict Canyon.

Grant(s) Awarded

In 2021, a COVID-19 Operational Grant of $7,000 was awarded to Insight LA to support staff salaries. Due to COVID-19, Insight LA experienced financial losses due to reduced program fees. Typically, Insight LA offers programming at their three centers: Santa Monica, East Hollywood, and Benedict Canyon, as well as traveling throughout the city to offer programming through Insight in Action. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, Insight LA pivoted quickly to offer programming remotely via Zoom. With the increase in remote programming, Insight LA was able to reach a greater number of individuals across a wider geographic region.

In 2019, a grant in the amount of $20,000 was awarded to Insight LA to help support the Insight in Action program, which integrates meditation practices centered around the values of wisdom and compassion in response to the suffering seen among vulnerable populations in Los Angeles. Funding was utilized to defray the costs of daylong retreats, specialized training, training in self compassion and pain management and mindful writing classes to youth, veterans and individuals.