PayPal and Venmo, alongside the LA Fire Department Foundation, World Central Kitchen, and GoFundMe.org, were honored with a Gold Halo Award for Best Emergency/Disaster Response Initiative at the 2026 Engage for Good Halo Awards for their emergency response to the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. Karen Little, who leads Rapid Response at PayPal and led the company’s wildfire response efforts, was also recognized as the inaugural Engage for Good Impact Leader of the Year.
Gold Halo Award: Best Emergency/Disaster Response Initiative
The group receiving the award for Best Emergency/Disaster Response.
Featuring: Sydney Ashworth from GoFundMe.org, Karen Little from PayPal,
Tracy Ganti from World Central Kitchen, Rianna Rizzuto from the
LA Fire Department Foundation.
When wildfires swept through the greater Los Angeles area in January 2025, the PayPal and Venmo teams mobilized quickly with key nonprofit partners, including the LA Fire Department Foundation, World Central Kitchen, and GoFundMe.org, to get donations to where they were needed most and show what’s possible when a payments infrastructure is activated quickly and in service of people who need help.
The result was a coordinated effort that swiftly raised funds that enabled food relief, firefighter equipment, and direct community aid where it was needed most. PayPal also launched a customer donation-matching campaign, matching up to $1 million in contributions and granting $1 million directly to local nonprofits and first responders.
Venmo partnered with GoFundMe.org to unlock additional matching funds and waived all processing fees on charitable donations. Together with our customers, platform partners, and FireAid supporters, these efforts raised more than $20 million to support both immediate needs and longer-term recovery.
In January 2026, PayPal marked one year since the LA wildfires by celebrating the resilience of the LA community and releasing a video featuring first-hand accounts from the LA Fire Department Foundation, World Central Kitchen, and Altadena small-business owner Brisa Lopez of Casa Catering. PayPal committed an additional $500,000 in grant funding to help nonprofits and small businesses continue rebuilding in disaster-affected communities, starting in Los Angeles and extending to other regions.
Impact Leader of the Year: Karen Little
Karen Little accepts the award for Impact Leader of the Year.
Karen Little, who leads Rapid Response as part of the Social Impact & Sustainability team at PayPal, was honored as the inaugural Impact Leader of the Year by Engage for Good. Karen led the company’s response to the Los Angeles wildfires and spearheaded a cross-functional team that leveraged the company’s payments and giving capabilities to support communities, first responders, and nonprofit partners when they needed it most. Karen was recognized for her collaborative approach, her leadership in shaping the field of social impact, and her ability to design and mobilize partnerships that respond to real-world challenges with speed, coordination, and scale.
“I've spent more than 20 years immersed in impact work, the last seven at PayPal, and what has remained true all this time is that it has always been a team effort. I’ve been fortunate to learn from and work alongside people deeply committed to supporting communities in meaningful ways.” — Karen Little, Global Lead, Rapid Response
The Halo Awards recognize outstanding corporate-nonprofit partnerships for measurable social impact and are the social impact sector’s longest-running recognition of excellence. To learn more about the awards and other winners, visit EngageforGood.com.