UNITE-LA is recruiting volunteers for our Spring 2026 Step into Tech program, which launches March 10. Step into Tech is a paid, work-based learning program that connects justice-involved and justice-impacted young adults, ages 18–28, to pathways into technology careers. Through a two-part experience, participants explore tech careers and education options, receive hands-on training, earn industry-recognized badges and certificates, build professional and personal skills and more.

We are currently seeking volunteers to serve as mentors, social networking breakout facilitators and mock interviewers.

On Jan. 29–30, members of Los Angeles Regional Consortium (LARC) and Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) joined UNITE-LA in San Diego to meet with representatives from all 13 regional K-16 collaboratives for the Statewide Peer Convening. Participants focused on sustainability, funding alignment and measurable outcomes in California’s education-to-career system. Participants collaborated with leaders from K-12 schools, community colleges, universities, workforce boards, CA GO-Biz and the California Workforce Development Board to review progress, address structural barriers and plan next steps as regions transition from pilot programs to permanent shared infrastructure.

On Saturday, Jan. 31, in partnership with UNITE-LA’s Cash for College campaign and the L.A. Region K-16 Collaborative, Compton College hosted Funding Your Future on its campus. Prospective students and families from local high schools, as well as current students and community members, participated in a program featuring financial aid experts, academic program staff and student support teams highlighting on- and off-campus resources.

Grounded in needs assessments shaped by Community Schools students, families and educators, UNITE-LA elevated community-defined priorities for student well-being—including access and expansion of vision and dental care, and dedicated supports for foster and homeless student needs.

As part of UNITE-LA's regional Student-Centered Transfer Redesign work, CSU Dominguez Hills empowered transfer students to lead campus change by launching S.T.A.R.S. (Supporting Transfer and Returning Students), a student-led organization that elevates transfer student voice and peer support.

In partnership with the OYC, UNITE‑LA designed participatory data trainings with foster youth leaders and Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) Youth Engagement Section staff.

The Opportunity Youth Collaborative (OYC) launched a Youth Advisory Council to guide the implementation of the Horizons 32K Roadmap for opportunity youth. This structure places youth leaders alongside system decision‑makers on the Horizons 32K Stewardship Board, ensuring lived experience shapes what the region prioritizes and how it is delivered. Youth helped set three core priorities for year one implementation: stronger high school transitions, expanded paid work‑based learning and integrated holistic supports.

UNITE-LA extended its systems transformation work into digital equity—an essential foundation for learning, work and civic participation. As co-convener of the California Public Utilities Commission's designated Regional Broadband Consortium for L.A. County, LA DEAL, UNITE-LA catalyzed a $25 million broadband infrastructure proposal in the Antelope Valley that will increase internet access for nearly 1,000 residents. The Antelope Valley Broadband Project is transforming the way residents access the internet by providing them with internet service that is run by a community organization versus a private sector internet service provider.

In 2025, UNITE‑LA published two reports with the L.A. Opportunity Youth Collaborative—Centering Youth, Strengthening Systems and Uncovering the Full Cost of L.A. Youth Workforce Development Programs—to inform how workforce systems can better serve opportunity youth and improve long‑term outcomes.

As co-convener of LAUSD's Community Schools Initiative (CSI), UNITE-LA supported the implementation of the Meaningful Teaching and Learning (MTL) resolution, which empowers five designated community schools to redesign instruction and assessment toward deeper, more relevant and equity-centered learning aligned with student and community needs.