In 2025, UNITE-LA, alongside the L.A. Opportunity Youth Collaborative (OYC), supported the transition of Horizons 32K from planning to implementation, marking a major step in the region's effort to reduce youth disconnection by 32,000 by 2028. This year, partners launched a multi-sector Stewardship Board bringing together leaders from K–12, postsecondary, workforce and holistic support agencies to guide collaborative action across systems that shape young adults' education-to-career pathways.

Guided by the Horizons 32K Strategic Roadmap, UNITE-LA led the launch of two impact initiatives focused on strengthening critical transition points for young people.

• The High School Transitions initiative is aligning leaders from K–12, postsecondary, workforce and youth-serving systems around strategies to improve outcomes for students in LAUSD continuation schools, who enroll in college at less than half the rate of their peers. Through two meetings in 2025, partners began developing strategies related to summer bridging after graduation, expanded occupational training and greater awareness of postsecondary nondegree certification programs.
• The Earn & Learn initiative launched a regional demonstration focused on health care education-to-career pathways for opportunity youth in partnership with WestEd, the CA Labor and Workforce Development Agency and the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce. Three demonstration teams comprising colleges, workforce programs and training participants are addressing common breakdowns in career pathway programs, such as front-door barriers that derail enrollment, aligning training timelines with real hiring opportunities and holistic support needs that affect program persistence. This applied systems-change work is designed to inform implementation of California's Master Plan for Career Education and strengthen coordinated talent pathways across the region.

For more information about the High School Transitions impact initiative, please reach out to Jenny Vu, Director of Education Systems Strategy, at [email protected]. To learn more about the Earn and Learn impact initiative, please reach out to Amber Chatman, Director of Workforce Systems and Policy, at [email protected].