The Muriel Pollia Foundation is a left-of-center private foundation based in Los Angeles, California. The foundation focuses on LGBT issues, gun control, and other left-liberal social policy projects. The foundation’s vice president, Michael B. Keegan, is the president of People for the American Way (PFAW), an advocacy organization founded by Hollywood writer Norman Lear, and is the co-founder of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). ¹ The foundation has assets in excess of $10 million, and donates more than $300,000 annually. ²

Funding Activities

The Muriel Pollia Foundation supports a number of left-of-center advocacy organizations. In total, the foundation made $266,500 in grants in 2016. ³

Notable liberal advocacy groups receiving grants from the foundation include People for the American Way Foundation, Voces de la Frontera, the Dolores Huerta Foundation, and Mi Familia Vota. ⁴

People

Michael B. Keegan is the vice president of the Muriel Pollia Foundation. He is the president of People for the American Way (PFAW), a social-liberal advocacy organization that monitors right-of-center activities, and advocates for a left-of-center policy agenda. ⁵ PFAW’s policy positions oppose Republican political priorities and judicial appointments. ⁶ PFAW has given out nearly $1.7 million in political contributions to Democratic candidates and causes through its affiliated PAC. ⁷

Michael B. Keegan is also the cofounder of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). ⁸ Originally founded as a media monitoring organization with the purpose of condemning anti-LGBT content and increasing LGBT inclusion in the entertainment industry, GLAAD is now working to build support for a constitutional amendment that explicitly protects LGBT people from discrimination. ⁹

Jay Rodriguez is the chairman of the board of the Muriel Pollia Foundation. He is a former vice president at NBC in Los Angeles, a former chair of the Greater Los Angeles American Red Cross, and has served on the National Board of Governors for the American Red Cross. He is a past president of the Greater Los Angeles Press Club, and a board member emeritus of University of La Verne. ¹⁰

1. “Michael Keegan.” People For The American Way. 2019. Accessed August 25, 2019. http://www.pfaw.org/spokespeople/michael-keegan/
2. The Muriel Pollia Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2017, Part VX Line 3a
3. The Muriel Pollia Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2016, Part I Line 25
4. The Muriel Pollia Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2016, Part XV Line 3
5. “About Us.” People For The American Way. 2019. Accessed August 25, 2019. http://www.pfaw.org/about-us/
6. “Trump’s Dangerous Team.” People for the American Way. 2019. Accessed August 30, 2019. http://www.pfaw.org/trumps-dangerous-team/
7. “People For The American Way.” Opensecrets.org Center for Responsive Politics. Accessed August 30, 2019. https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00331454&cycle=2018
8. “Michael Keegan.” People For The American Way. 2019. Accessed August 25, 2019. http://www.pfaw.org/spokespeople/michael-keegan/
9. Barnes, Brooks. “Glaad’s Bold New Campaign: an L.G.B.T. Constitutional Amendment.” The New York Times. June 29, 2019. Accessed September 5, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/29/business/media/glaad-lgbt-constitutional-amendment.html
10. “Board of Trustees.” University of La Verne. Accessed August 30, 2019. https://laverne.edu/president/trustees/