As announced earlier this year, UNITE-LA is honored to have longtime board member Efrain Escobedo take the reins as the new Chair of our Board of Directors. Our team feels privileged to have another incredible leader at the helm of our Board of Directors.

Last month, UNITE-LA President Alysia Bell had the opportunity to meet Gov. Newsom alongside other state, L.A. County, L.A. City and business leaders to thank him for his investment in regional collaboration, including California Jobs First and K-16 Collaboratives.

Last month, UNITE-LA went on record to vehemently oppose the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education. This open letter lays out the potential, devastating consequences for educational access, college affordability, workforce development and, ultimately, the economic mobility of individuals (especially those from historically underserved communities) if the current federal administration dismantles the U.S. Department of Education. Please share this letter as you see fit.

In February, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Community Schools Steering Committee (CSSC) finalized the selection and designation of seven schools to join Cohort 6 of the Community Schools Initiative (CSI). These seven schools will join the 63 existing community schools, bringing the LAUSD CSI expansion goal of 70 community schools by the 2025-26 year to fruition! This follows UNITE-LA's efforts to co-create solutions and lead efforts in school recruitment, application revisions, creation of a scoring rubric aligned with the state’s Community Schools Framework, volunteer scorer trainings and the comprehensive scoring of completed applications to guide the CSSC in selecting the seven schools between August and December 2024.

This month’s funder spotlight goes to a long-time supporter, The Boeing Company!

The Programs team is participating in an exciting pilot program for Imagine LA’s Social Benefit Navigator (Navigator).

The UNITE-LA 2025 Resource Guide is here!

UNITE-LA is aligning and transforming public systems to achieve education and equity in the L.A. region. Our Systems Change team put together a snapshot of the incredible work done in 2024. Take a look!

Last month, the L.A. Opportunity Youth Collaborative (OYC), which is co-led by the Alliance for Children’s Rights and UNITE-LA, presented at the City of L.A.'s Workforce Development Board (WDB) Youth Council meeting on the Horizons 32K Strategic Plan.

UNITE-LA volunteers joined LAUSD last month in assisting an estimated 1,000 South L.A. high school seniors build their pathway to a brighter future by attending the FAFSA and CADAA fair at L.A. Harbor College.