The Garner Holt Foundation
The Garner Holt Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to increasing hope, igniting imagination, and inspiring creativity in the lives of young people through hands-on, career-focused learning experiences in the areas of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics.
Welcome to
THE GARNER HOLT FOUNDATION

For Garner Holt, the creation of this foundation is a lifelong dream. Garner started his company, Garner Holt Productions, Inc., in 1977 in his parents’ garage while he was still in high school. Today, Garner Holt Productions, Inc. has produced more animatronic figures for theme parks than any other company on the planet. Garner attributes much of his success to educators who encouraged him to embrace his curiosity, explore his interests, and pursue his passions. With a strong desire to give back to the community that supported him first, the mission of the Garner Holt Foundation is to increase hope, ignite imagination, and inspire creativity in the lives of young people through hands-on, career-focused learning experiences in the areas of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. To bring these experiences to life, the Garner Holt Foundation creates immersive learning opportunities for underserved youth throughout the community to explore careers in engineering, robotics, automation, programming, manufacturing, and the visual and performing arts, while simultaneously building in-demand job skills and the self-confidence needed to pursue their own paths to success in the careers of their dreams.

garner holt factory tour

Focusing on More of What Matters for Student Success!

Hope
The ideas and energy students have for the future.
Engagement
The involvement in and enthusiasm for school.
Belonging
Feeling welcomed, accepted and included as part of a larger group
Social and Emotional Learning
Understanding and managing emotions and establishing positive relationships with others
Entrepreneurial Aspiration
The talent and energy necessary to build businesses that survive, thrive and employ others.
Career and Financial Literacy
The information, attitudes and behaviors that students need for healthy participation in the economy.

-Gallup, 2020

Featured News

IAAPA Funworld

Inspiring the Next Generation

How Garner Holt is sparking an early interest in the attractions industry among students

In early January, adolescents from across southern California went on a mission—descend upon a nondescript office complex south of the San Bernardino National Forest in search of the future. Inside, the 50 students entered a vibrant factory space, filled with colorful equipment and plenty of room to dream.

Outfitted in white lab coats, they set forward toward a common goal: create an animatronic, similar in nature to the story-telling robotic figures made famous by Walt Disney Imagineering for Disney attractions around the globe.

By Alysia Gray Painter, NBC 4 Los Angeles, April 19 2023
Visit the storybook-y Los Feliz abode while raising funds for the Garner Holt Foundation; Disney royalty will be there, too...
By Linda Ha - Loma Linda University Healthy - July 14, 2023
Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital patients and their families had a chance to see, look, and feel a variety of animatronic creations up close on Wednesday, July 12.
By Alysia Gray Painter • NBC Los Angeles, October 3, 2022
Garner Holt Productions in Redlands is famous for fantastical theme park creations; now a give-back night will support the next generation of dream-makers.
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