A big thank you to the Santa Monica Chamber Board Foundation, who invited UNITE-LA to serve on the Foundation board to support their NextGen Mentors initiative. UNITE-LA's Ilia Lopez, Associate Director of Inclusion and Community Partnerships, will represent UNITE-LA for a two-year term starting July 1.

UNITE-LA, along with numerous other government, education, business and nonprofit allies, has joined the Governor’s Office in an innovative, public-private partnership called Corps to Career.

Last month, several members of UNITE-LA’s Programs and Systems-Change teams attended the annual Linked Learning Conference, hosted in downtown L.A.

In early April, UNITE-LA participated in a panel discussion with partners from Jobs for the Future (JFF) at the national conference for Correctional Education Association (CEA).

Last year, UNITE-LA supported the State’s Universal PreKindergarten (UPK) Mixed Delivery Quality & Access Workgroup by surveying the business community on their perspectives and potential roles within the early education, mixed-delivery model, particularly for chambers of commerce and business organizations that represent ​diverse communities. ​These findings were incorporated into a broader, final report that was unveiled by the workgroup during a virtual convening last month.

UNITE-LA has been invited to serve on a targeted Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) workgroup designed to develop and implement the Jobs@LAX Academy.

The third cohort of the Los Angeles Regional Cleantech Academy is underway. Forty-seven students, ages 17-24, are spending 12 weeks learning about essential skills, industry sectors, local employers and career pathways into the emerging, clean energy economy. As part of this, and with April marking Earth Month, here are some examples of their opportunities.

On Friday, April 26, UNITE-LA, in partnership with Early Edge CA and Catalyst CA, brought together a dynamic group of more than 20 individuals from diverse organizations across the state whose focus is to support Dual Language Learners (DLLs), their educators and their families. The group attended a full-day learning experience that included tailored tours to Educare Los Angeles at Long Beach and Webster Elementary School. Here, they observed high-quality programs in various settings, such as dual language immersion classrooms for infants/toddlers, Head Start, California State Preschool Programs and transitional kindergarten classes.

The Los Angeles Digital Equity Action League (LA DEAL) is leading a new initiative to change how households and businesses access the internet in the Los Angeles region. The initiative will support municipalities with building publicly-owned, open-access broadband to increase affordability and digital access in local communities.

This month, UNITE-LA is excited to spotlight Quality Start Los Angeles (QSLA), who works to empower early learning providers to build upon and improve the quality of care they provide to children ages birth to five. Through our partnerships with QSLA on the "Two Languages, Twice the Opportunities" campaign, we continue to uplift the power and importance of multilingual education in our diverse community.

UNITE-LA is proud to be a part of this initiative. By working with QSLA, we aim to empower early learning providers, support families, and help create a community where all children have a quality start in life. For fantastic resources, visit the QSLA website, where you can access language-specific pages, view the new DLL videos, and see PDFs of the brochures. For any questions, feel free to email [email protected].