This month's partner spotlight belongs to the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD)! At its helm is Chancellor Francisco Rodriguez, a dedicated UNITE-LA board member, serving as our Board Chair, and a fierce UNITE-LA champion! An inspirational leader and speaker, he leads a team of strategic thought partners who serve as collaborators in improving access to and outcomes in higher education.

Last month, UNITE-LA partnered with Quality Start Los Angeles (QSLA) to launch the "Two Languages, Twice the Opportunities" media campaign in English, Spanish and Chinese. The purpose of this campaign is to encourage and support families who speak more than one language at home and to promote the benefits of bilingualism for children and families. This campaign is part of a larger collaborative effort among UNITE-LA, First 5 LA, Early Edge CA, LACOE and The Child Care Alliance Los Angeles to support dual language learners throughout L.A. County.

In May, UNITE-LA President, Alysia Bell, and Senior Vice President of Education Policy and Public Affairs, Sonia Campos-Rivera, met with Freshmen Assemblymember, Josh Lowenthal (Assembly District 69: Signal Hill, Long Beach, Catalina Island and Carson). The member shared AB 10, which is a bill looking to ensure Local Education Agencies are being proactive in educating their students and families about the impacts and resources around body shaming.

Last month, UNITE-LA joined the Dual Language Learners (DLL) coalition in a visit to Westminster to observe Spanish dual immersion infant and toddler classrooms, as well as PreK and TK Vietnamese dual immersion classrooms.

UNITE-LA was pleased to support the REAL EDWD Committee's annual State Elected session, which included discussions with Sen. Josh Newman, Sen. Anthony Portantino, and Chief of Staff for Assemblymember Mike Fong, Sophia Kwong Kim. The elected expressed appreciation for the Coalition's efforts to uplift equitable Education and Workforce legislation and flagged additional bills for potential support, such as AB 1540 (Fong) - Streamlining Financial Aid for Undocumented Students.

The California State Legislature approved a $310 billion 2023-24 state budget, which was signed by Gov. Newsom.

We applaud the REAL Coalition for issuing three Education & Workforce Development related support letters recently.

Earlier this year, UNITE-LA held its inaugural Business Interest Policy Survey to gauge business organizations' policy interests around cradle-through-career Education & Workforce Development (EDWD).

President of UNITE-LA, Alysia Bell, has been voted into the position of Co-Vice Chair for the California Stewardship Network (CSN) 2023 Executive Committee. Alysia will hold the position for the next two years.

The L.A. Opportunity Youth Collaborative (OYC) recently released its 2022 OYC Impact Report. Co-convened by the Alliance for Children's Rights, John Burton Advocates for Youth and UNITE-LA, the L.A. OYC builds partnerships across sectors to improve education and employment outcomes for transition-age foster youth (TAY).