Timeline & Milestones - Wallis Annenberg Legacy Foundation

2011

May 24

The Wallis Annenberg Legacy Foundation is incorporated with the California Secretary of State's office.

August 12

Appointment of the first Legacy Foundation Board of Directors: Wallis Annenberg, Leonard Aube, and David Ulich.

August 28

The Wallis Annenberg Legacy Foundation Tax Exempt Status Application filed with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Mid-2011

Wallis directs concepting of her vision for proposed Wallis Annenberg Legacy Foundation Urban Ecology Center and Pet Center, (precursor to PetSpace) first envisioned for a bluff in Rancho Palos Verdes.

November

Concept paper for a proposed Urban Ecology and Pet Center presented to Wallis and the Legacy Foundation Board.

2012

Research, design and planning continue for the Urban Ecology and Pet Center.

2013

October 16

Wallis Annenberg Legacy Foundation signs an agreement with the Annenberg Foundation to provide back-office support services for Legacy Foundation.

2014

Under Wallis Annenberg's direction, planning and design work advances for Urban Ecology and Pet Center, now envisioned for a Playa Vista location.

2016

March 25-27

Wallis Annenberg Pet Space Leadership Institute Fellows made up of global scholars hold the first Legacy Foundation/Pet Space Fellows retreat at Sunnylands on the human-animal bond to foster and support the understanding of the human-animal bond through research and program implementation.

September 15

Wallis Annenberg Legacy Foundation Board of Directors appoint Legacy Foundation Audit Committee.

2017

Wallis Annenberg Pet Space Fellows Leadership Institute gathers for the second time, with a group of international scientists and scholars for two academic seminars to explore the human-animal bond. Thirteen academic papers are published out of the landmark Fellows gathering in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science titled, Our Human-Canine Connection: The History Benefits and Future of Human-Dog Interactions.

June 24

Wallis Annenberg Legacy Foundation opens PetSpace at a Grand Opening that draws more than 3,000 guests during a weekend of festivities and pet adoptions.

2018

January 16

Wallis Annenberg PetSpace hosts its first Youth Program in partnership with the Girl Scouts USA, welcoming girls working on earning their Girl Scout Pet Badge.

April 13

PetSpace welcomes its first school field trip group from the Center for Early Education.

June 23-24

PetSpace celebrates its first AnniFURsary with the main celebration attracting over twenty-five hundred attendees, including Pet Space animal adopter families.

2017-2018

Wallis Annenberg launches partnership with the Stanford University Center on Longevity to research a proposed aging and longevity center envisioned by Wallis, at first called "Club 80's".

2018

The Stanford Center on Longevity research includes eight focus groups with participants 70 years and older on perspectives of aging, attitudes about senior centers and their experience with technology.

October 15

The Wallis Annenberg Legacy Foundation Board hears a comprehensive plan for proposed Club 80s envisioned by Wallis Annenberg. Now planned for the Audrey Irmas Pavilion on Wilshire Boulevard in Koreatown and later named The Wallis Annenberg GenSpace.

2019

June

Legacy Foundation Board signs lease at Audrey Irmas Pavilion to locate the Wallis Annenberg GenSpace there.

PetSpace launches the first Summer Youth Camp, where young people learn about animals and animal care. PetSpace camp grows to serve thousands of children and include Pet Pioneers Camp and Animal Adventure Camp (both ages 7 to 11) and Animal Career Camp (ages 12-16).

December 7

Warner Brothers Animal Planet, a popular cable television channel, broadcasts a 2-hour LIVE special of Give A Dog A Home Live! from Wallis Annenberg PetSpace.

2020

March 11

The World Health Organization declares a Global Pandemic. Planning and construction continue for The Wallis Annenberg GenSpace designed in collaboration with noted age-inclusive architect Susi Stadler.

September

PetSpace opens Pet Space Critter Corner – virtually - to demonstrate some of the different animals that can be adopted from local shelters and animal care centers that also need forever homes. These ambassador animals help introduce potential pet parents to additional options and determine what animal might be the best fit in each family.

October 12

Wallis Annenberg Legacy Foundation Board approves The Wallis Annenberg Legacy Foundation Investment Committee.

2022

April 27

The Wallis Annenberg GenSpace Grand Opening in Koreatown.

2023

The Wallis Annenberg PetSpace Leadership Institute Fellows hold a third convening at Pet Space this time with experts to discuss under-researched feline behavior and welfare through the lenses of behavior, personality, and interaction with human companions. Some of the most influential global figures in feline behavior and welfare – from anthropologists to geneticists – attend to present research on the human-feline connection.

February

Wallis Annenberg GenSpace holds a premiere of the hit movie "80 for Brady" and a panel discussion on the importance of positive portrayals of older adults on-screen. Participants include Hollywood icons Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Sally Field, Billy Porter and producer Donna Gigliotti.

2024

April

Wake Up: Getting Ready for an Aging United States – GenSpace retreat with twenty national and international experts at Sunnylands.

November

First Dia de los Muertos Celebration at PetSpace.

2025

Summer

GenSpace hosts the Older and Younger Leaders Roundtable with CoGenerate, bringing generations together to explore how to bridge divides in today's fractured world. The event unveiled research across generations on six themes: admiration, ambition, discomfort, conflict, power sharing, and intersectionality. Research co-sponsored by AARP, The Eisner Foundation and the Wallis Annenberg Legacy Foundation.

June 24

Wallis Annenberg GenSpace hosts the West Coast premiere of the PBS documentary, Caregiving . The event includes a panel discussion with the film's director Chris Durrance, aging expert Paul Irving and Christine Fadriga, whose caregiving story was featured in the film.

July

The Wallis Annenberg Legacy Foundation assumes continued hands-on management and continued funding of the Annenberg Animal Crossing and Wildlife Crossing Fund.

September

The Wallis Annenberg Legacy Foundation announces its first set of grants since Wallis's passing on July 28, 2025, totaling $10 Million to four organizations: The Wildlife Crossing Fund, Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, USC Annenberg School of Communications and Journalism, and the Annenberg Beach House.

GenSpace registers 391 members.

Number of visitors to PetSpace for educational/community based programming hits nearly 16,000 for the year.

Number of pets who find their forever home from PetSpace hits nearly 500 this year.

Cumulative numbers from inception to September 2025

GenSpace: 933 members.

PetSpace visitors: nearly 170,000.

PetSpace adoptions: 4,115.