Oakland, CA, July 20, 2026 — Independent full-service ad agency H/L is proud to announce that its Golden Grants program has surpassed the $1 million mark in giving back to children’s organizations and schools since its inception in 2018. Built by Crystal Sawyer, H/L EVP, Managing Director, and shareholder, Golden Grants is a proprietary philanthropic program for McDonald’s owners and operators to engage with and support local schools and nonprofit organizations that serve children in the area. This milestone comes as applications for the 2026 grant cycle officially opened on June 1 of this year.
Established eight years ago by Sawyer, H/L’s only female Managing Director and shareholder, Golden Grants has grown from one participating business unit and $20,000 in funding to five business units today, with a growing number of applications—2025 pulled in 1,200 applications alone. Throughout, Sawyer has worked with the H/L legal team to ensure the program complies with the guidelines for each participating area.
This year, H/L is introducing improvements to the Golden Grants infrastructure, designed to enhance the experience for both applicants and the judging panel. These improvements include an AI-assisted review, which evaluates applications against the program’s Eligibility Guidelines rubric, an online back office for the volunteer judging panel of other McDonald’s Owner/Operators, automatic electronic scoring rather than manual input, and Success 365, a new website feature spotlighting past grant recipients.
“The idea behind Golden Grants was born from a desire to find a way to connect McDonald’s to local schools and communities in which they had been ultimately shut out in many ways,” remarks Sawyer. “It became a way to start the conversation locally and is a huge catalyst still today. I personally loved the program because it gave a new way to help children. Some of my favorite memories from my career were working with high school students on a new restaurant opening or speaking to elementary kids about my job and the McDonald’s brand. I know I am a servant leader at heart, and this program truly embodies that from top to bottom.”
Golden Grants sits alongside H/L’s other prolific portfolios of community-driven initiatives like Project Paella, the Josh Nichol Scholarship, the Kinetic Academy Internship Program, Fresh Start, and Holiday Help.
H/L Senior PR Manager, Anna Lane, says of Crystal Sawyer and her leadership, “Crystal is not just our EVP, but to many of us, she’s an example to look up to as an incredible business mind, a woman bringing diversity to our leadership team, and a mom taking care of it all. From the gallery, she’s one to watch.”
