After a successful statewide advocacy campaign led by UNITE-LA, Governor Newsom signed into law AB 121, the 2025 Education Omnibus Trailer Bill, on June 28. This bill constitutes upcoming education-related expenditures and includes a no-cost extension for the Regional K-16 Education Collaborative Grant Program, which established the L.A. Region K-16 Collaborative in 2022. Read more about the Collaborative and UNITE-LA's role in seeing its success.

UNITE-LA stands in stark opposition to the Reconciliation Bill recently passed by Congress. As an organization that works to increase access to equitable economic mobility for Californians, we are diametrically opposed to legislation that slashes investments to critical education and workforce development programs in favor of tax cuts to billionaires and increased deportation and incarceration of immigrant communities.

Dear Partners,

In April, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his administration released the Master Plan for Career Education (Plan), a bold step toward reimagining how California prepares its learners for an evolving economy. The Plan rightly recognizes that our education and workforce systems must be more cohesive, inclusive and responsive to meet the needs of both individuals and industry.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 13, 2025

MEDIA CONTACT:
Claudine Battisti

UPDATED: UNITE-LA CONDEMNS ICE RAIDS AND URGES FEDERAL AUTHORITIES TO PROTECT IMMIGRANT FAMILIES

UNITE-LA is proud to spotlight College Futures Foundation for their visionary leadership in advancing economic mobility through postsecondary education.

UNITE-LA Vice President of Research and Evaluation, Dr. Lisa Catanzarite, presented UNITE-LA’s upcoming Business Immigration Report at the Supporting the Immigrant Workforce: HRTP Strategies for Workers and Employers webinar, which brought together 70+ attendees and was co-hosted by Building Skills Partnership (BSP) and the UC Berkeley Labor Center.

The UNITE-LA Programs team recently hosted its Summer Partner Open House, sharing details about our upcoming summer programs—My Pathway to Health and Step into Tech, both launching on June 24—as well as a sneak peek at our fall offerings.

UNITE-LA attended the Metropolitan Water District’s (MWD) inaugural summit, a landmark event focused on the role of education, technology and cross-sector partnerships in shaping an inclusive and future-ready workforce.

Our National Strategic Partnerships (NSP) team brings you their second Smart Justice newsletter, a quarterly newsletter on trends in criminal justice reform in workforce and education.

Last month, at the National Skills Summit, the National Skills Coalition honored Dave Stone, advocacy officer at the United Way of Central Iowa (UWCI), with the Dr. Alma Salazar Bridge Builder Award at their annual Skills Summit in Washington, D.C.