From March 15 to 17, UNITE-LA's Ajay Lucas and Ashley Álvarez attended ACCESS D.C., hosted by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. This annual fly-in convenes business and civic leaders from the Los Angeles region to engage with federal policymakers to promote policies that will drive job creation and cultivate a thriving regional economy for all.

Álvarez also attended the California Early Care and Education Federal Advocacy Trip, hosted by our partners at the Child Care Resource Center (CCRC), an annual event that brings together early care and education providers and advocates from California for coordinated congressional engagement in Washington, D.C. Additionally, we joined the Caregiving Summit, an event focused on strengthening support systems for working families.

UNITE-LA is proud to be one of eight grantees selected for funding through the College Futures Foundation's Unlocking Economic Mobility for Adult Learners initiative. The final grantees were selected from a highly competitive pool of 223 applicants from across the field. Through this initiative, UNITE-LA, in partnership with California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), California State University, San Bernardino, Mount Saint Mary’s University, University of California, Irvine, WorkBay, Project Rebound, community-based organizations and industry representatives, join a statewide cohort advancing innovative, learner-centered solutions to improve postsecondary outcomes for working adults.

When Dean Jinny Rhee welcomed a room of Long Beach high school students to California State University, Long Beach earlier this year, she knew she wasn’t simply opening a course, she was opening a pathway. “We don’t teach engineering in high school,” Dr. Rhee reflected. Without parents or mentors in STEM, young people often don’t learn what engineering is until college, sometimes too late to pursue it. To address this early access gap, and through planning and coordination made possible by the L.A. Region K-16 Collaborative (Collaborative), CSULB launched Introduction to Engineering (ENGR 101), CSULB’s first-ever dual-enrollment course designed specifically for high school students.

UNITE-LA convened more than 60 K-12 districts, higher education, workforce and employer partners in January for a Lunch & Learn spotlighting the L.A. Region K-16 Collaborative's newly released health care workforce report, marking the largest community of practice session to date. The event highlighted key labor market insights and featured a panel of higher education and health care leaders who shared real-world perspectives on workforce demand, clinical placement challenges and the need for stronger alignment across education and training pathways.

As California continues building toward a fully integrated education-to-career system, UNITE-LA joined partners from the Los Angeles Regional Consortium (LARC) and the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) at the Statewide K–16 Collaborative Peer Convening in San Diego on Jan. 29 and 30. The gathering brought together representatives from all 13 regional collaboratives to align on sustainability, funding strategies and measurable outcomes for California’s education-to-career system.

LA DEAL advanced a coordinated policy and partnership strategy in the first quarter of 2026 to expand broadband access and strengthen digital equity across Los Angeles County. This work included engagement in state regulatory proceedings, federal funding discussions and direct collaboration with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to improve key broadband programs, ensuring underserved communities have access to reliable, high-speed internet.

As part of the Horizons 32K strategic plan to improve outcomes for opportunity youth across Los Angeles County, UNITE‑LA is advancing efforts to strengthen the transition from high school into college, training and employment for students in Los Angeles' alternative education system. In February, alongside the Britebound Center for Career Navigation at Jobs for the Future (JFF) and LAUSD, UNITE‑LA convened K–12, community college and workforce leaders to improve career navigation for students completing high school in non-traditional settings. LAUSD's Options division serves more than 9,000 students across 60 sites, including continuation high schools, virtual academies and community day schools for expelled students.

UNITE-LA is advancing a coordinated state policy agenda and urging partners, employers and policymakers to support critical state legislation—AB 805 and SB 1132—to strengthen California's workforce system and expand economic mobility for opportunity youth. This work builds on momentum from the 2026 Youth Apprenticeship Summit in Sacramento, where leaders across education, workforce and policy aligned around implementation, marking a critical shift from planning to action. As the state moves to operationalize recommendations from the California Youth Apprenticeship Committee, UNITE-LA is helping ensure that policy, practice and lived experience are aligned to expand equitable, high-quality career pathways.

"I know who I am, I know where I'm going and I know who can help me get there." That is the goal driving UNITE-LA’s latest effort to ensure more young people in Los Angeles County graduate high school with real momentum toward college, career and economic mobility. Through the California Purposeful Pathways Project, funded by the Gates Foundation, UNITE-LA and the California Community Foundation will support demonstration models in the Long Beach and South Bay subregions of the L.A. Region K–16 Collaborative—showing how high schools and community colleges can better integrate advising, dual enrollment and career-connected learning into coherent, equitable pathways for students.

UNITE-LA officially launched the California Accessing Economic Mobility (CAEM) Fellowship on March 11. The initiative builds on UNITE-LA’s recent research on the unique needs and assets of affinity business organizations, including a statewide survey of nearly 90 chambers of commerce and business associations.