On Oct. 21, UNITE-LA celebrated the completion of our 10th Step into Tech cohort — a season of incredible growth and achievement! Twenty-two participants successfully completed part one, with 19 advancing to part two to pursue certifications in networking, cybersecurity or data science.

At the 2025 Grantmakers for Education (GFE) Conference, a national convening of leading education funders and systems-change advocates, UNITE-LA’s Dexter Freeman, vice president, National Business Coalitions, moderated a powerful panel on advancing credential access for justice-impacted individuals. Hosted by the ACCE Foundation and supported by Lumina Foundation, the session spotlighted the Greater Memphis Chamber’s cross-sector work to expand second-chance hiring and build career pathways that connect justice-impacted individuals to family-sustaining employment. The conversation emphasized the chamber’s role in aligning education and training programs with employer needs while addressing long-standing systemic barriers to workforce reentry.

In the last newsletter, UNITE-LA was thrilled to share the latest video highlighting our LA Regional Cleantech Career Academy! A special thank you to our partner, Lima Charlie Creative, for bringing this story to life with their creativity, expertise and dedication.

UNITE-LA’s Policy team recently met with Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez to share our work and explore opportunities for collaboration in advancing education and workforce equity.

We are pleased to welcome our newest Angeleno Corps members, Michelle Zhou and Te'yana Brown to the UNITE-LA team!

As co-conveners of the Los Angeles Digital Equity Action League (LA DEAL), Liliana Aide Monge, UNITE-LA Director of Digital Equity, and Joel Martin, Project Manager at Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), collaborated with Pacoima Beautiful's Executive Director, Veronica Padilla, and Roxy Rivas, Deputy Director of Capital Projects and Planning, to launch a Pacoima Broadband Taskforce that will complete a comprehensive broadband needs assessment and report for the San Fernando area.

As co-convener of the Opportunity Youth Collaborative (OYC), UNITE-LA is driving the Horizons 32K roadmap to reduce youth disconnection by 32,000 by 2028. This fall, two impact initiatives—High School Transitions and Earn and Learn—brought cross-sector partners together to strengthen transitions and expand equitable health care pathways.

UNITE-LA’s College Access/Cash for College team kicked off the new academic year with renewed energy and a strong commitment to removing barriers and expanding postsecondary opportunities for Los Angeles students.

Last month, UNITE-LA joined workforce partners in Oakland for the statewide launch of the Building Opportunities and Optimizing Skills for Transitions (BOOST) Project.

Last month, UNITE-LA hit its maximum capacity of 100 attendees for its Virtual Health Care Career Fair!