Step into Tech participants are nearing the end of their six-week program. They have completed introductory courses for areas including networking, LinkedIn, financial empowerment and cybersecurity. They have all been excited about having the opportunity to learn about different career pathways in tech through meaningful conversations and engagement with tech professionals, as well as hands-on experience through courses on the Cisco Networking Academy. Cisco has been a dynamic partner throughout the process, ensuring participants were trained on the platform, knowledgeable about the courses and certifications offered, sharing and connecting participants with job opportunities and helping to secure speakers.

UNITE-LA’s programming team hosted its fifth Partner Open House in mid-August for 20 partners, including Homeboy Industries, L.A. County Probation, St. Anne’s, Antioch University, KIPP SoCal Public Schools, Kids in the Spotlight, LAUSD, YouthSource Center and others. The event provided partners the opportunity to learn about upcoming UNITE-LA programming directly from our team, which included information on the Tech Pathways Academy, powered by Microsoft, the launch of the fall LA Regional Cleantech Career Academy and Step into Tech cohorts, the next WorkforceReady Focused cohort and hosting L.A. Cash for College workshops and the related Affordable Connectivity Program.

UNITE-LA hosted its summer Future Forward Forum in August, featuring an exploration in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI) with Executive Director of California Cyber Alliance, Eric Coughenour. It was a timely and thought-provoking conversation that inspired a great deal of engagement from attendees. Two of our tech training partners, NPower and Per Scholas, joined to provide an overview of their free cybersecurity training programs.

In July, UNITE-LA's Humberto Estratalan, Director of Public Policy, and Adam Gottlieb, Director of Postsecondary Strategy and Policy, spent time in Sacramento for UNITE-LA's second advocacy trip of 2023.

On Aug. 1, UNITE-LA was pleased to co-host a Regional Energy Policy Convening, in partnership with CA FWD, focused on the opportunities, barriers and resources needed to make energy independence and reliability a reality.

We are so pleased to share that, thanks to efforts from the Linked Learning Alliance, UNITE-LA and several other partners, this year's state budget will include full funding for the Golden State Pathways Program, which works to connect our education and workforce systems.

As part of our work with the ACCE Foundation, the National Strategic Partnerships team helps plan and execute a yearly Fellowship.

UNITE-LA presented the latest information related to Equitable Broadband Access to the Westside Council of Chambers (WC3) Board in July.

Last month, UNITE-LA and their partners from WestEd met with nearly a dozen Cal State Dominguez Hills student services staff and administrators for a half-day training to explore how they might redesign the transfer student experience.