The National Strategic Partnerships team, in partnership with the ACCE Foundation, announced the 11 chambers participating in our Economic Mobility for Rural Workers cohort.

The National Strategic Partnerships team is here with another edition of the ACCE Education and Talent Development Division newsletter!

UNITE-LA’s L.A. Youth at Work team hosted in-person work-readiness certification sessions at Theodore Roosevelt High School and Orthopaedic Hospital Medical Magnet High School.

As part of our Advancing Tech Sector Fair Chance Hiring engagement with the L.A. County Justice, Care and Opportunities Department (JCOD—previously the Office of Diversion and Reentry), UNITE-LA’s Research & Evaluation and Workforce teams collaborated with external partners to conduct surveys of 397 systems-involved individuals to better understand their employment experience and barriers; results informed our Step into Tech programming.

Did You Know?

After our advocating for Proposition 47, and our service as co-chair of the L.A. County Prop 47 Jobs & Services Taskforce, in 2018, in partnership with the L.A. County Department of Workforce Development, Aging and Community Services and their Fair Chance Hiring campaign, UNITE-LA launched a pilot workforce development cohort-style program connecting 26 systems-involved 16- to 24-year-olds to job preparation, mentorship and an eight-week, 320-hour, paid internship at a private sector company. This work continues!

My Pathway to Health is a new program for UNITE-LA, connecting opportunity youth (out of school and out of work), ages 18-24, to careers in allied health. Launching May 9, My Pathway to Health is a paid opportunity and will provide participants the chance to explore careers and educational opportunities as phlebotomists, community health workers and peer support specialists.

UNITE-LA will be launching the second cohort of its Step into Tech program on May 18. The program is being offered to systems-involved individuals, ages 18-35. Over the course of five weeks for a total of 15 hours, participants will have the opportunity to listen and learn about different career pathways in tech and entrepreneurship from six career professionals from companies that include Meta, Snap Inc., xahive, Silverline, IH Communications and Third and Grove.

Pathways to STEAM Careers is a partnership with the Department of Economic Opportunity, Los Angeles County (DEO). The program, made possible by funding from CA AB 628–the Breaking Barriers to Employment Initiative–helps increase employment outcomes for opportunity youth, systems-involved individuals and economically disadvantaged young people by connecting them to STEAM career education, training and paid work experience in high-growth, high-mobility occupations in health care, tech and cleantech.

Led by Kelly LoBianco, the first director of the L.A. County Department of Economic Opportunity, DEO works to unlock L.A. County’s economic potential and build thriving, inclusive local communities. UNITE-LA’s Overcoming Obstacles project complements the work of DEO’s L.A. County Workforce Development Board (WDB) and America’s Job Centers of California (AJCCs) by enrolling eligible applicants served by AB 628 funded programs in formal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 and California Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (AB 1270) workforce development and job placement programs. UNITE-LA has worked closely with the L.A. County Workforce Development Board for many years as a regional thought leader identifying programmatic, policy and systems change level solutions leading to workforce development reforms.

In March, UNITE-LA collaborated with leaders from UTLA and L.A. Unified School District to apply for a 2023 California Community Schools Partnership Program Implementation Grant, which would provide an additional $33.4 million to support Cohort 4 community schools over five years. The L.A. Unified Community Schools Steering Committee selected the 21 new schools making up Cohort 4 in February.