Wallis Annenberg, who in more than 20 years in leadership positions at her family’s Annenberg Foundation oversaw more than $3 billion in grants and donations to projects that include the arts, wildlife, and older adults, died on August 11 at her home in Los Angeles. She was 86.

Philanthropic projects have included the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; PetSpace, an animal adoption hospital and humane education center; GenSpace, an innovative community center for older adults; and the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, a structure that, when completed, will span 10 lanes of the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills, CA, to allow the safe movement of mountain lions and other wildlife from the Santa Monica Mountains.

When Ms. Annenberg was asked by The Beverly Hills Courier in 2019 what makes a project resonate enough for her to support it, she said, “I have to give from my heart, first and foremost. Which is why I’ve been focused on issues like women’s empowerment, engaging people in the visual and performing arts, strengthening the human-animal bond. Things that really matter to me.”