Wallis Annenberg was a visionary philanthropist who used giving as a powerful instrument to improve the wellbeing of people, communities and the living world. Guided by a belief in innovation, her work spanned education, arts and culture, medical research, environmental stewardship, social justice and animal welfare — always rooted in the Annenberg Foundation’s core values of community, compassion, diversity and fairness.

During her tenure as Chair of the Foundation, her philanthropy supported more than 2,700 organisations and helped expand the boundaries of traditional giving. A lifelong advocate for the human–animal bond, she played a pivotal role in the creation of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing — a landmark of coexistence designed to reconnect fragmented habitats and allow wildlife to move safely across one of California’s busiest highways.

Before she died, The Great Elephant Migration honoured her legacy by using the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing as its symbolic finish line in June and July 2025, bringing 100 life‑sized elephants to Los Angeles in celebration of her vision for a world where humans and animals can move freely, safely and together.

Honored by institutions across the country — from the Kennedy Center to the California African American Museum — and a recipient of the 2022 National Humanities Medal, Wallis Annenberg’s influence continues to shape the fields she cared for deeply. Her spirit endures in the communities, habitats and cultural institutions strengthened by her leadership.