In Pomona Unified School District (PUSD), the question wasn’t whether students were capable of succeeding in college, it was whether they ever had the opportunity to imagine themselves there. Addressing that gap required more than expanding access to individual programs. It required redesigning how high schools and universities worked together so students could begin their college journey before graduating.

UNITE-LA convened more than 70 cross-sector partners in April for a Lunch & Learn focused on dual enrollment partnerships between K-12 districts and California State University campuses. While most dual enrollment opportunities across California are offered through community colleges, the session highlighted how CSU-based models can provide students with earlier access to university coursework, campus experiences and degree pathways. Bringing together K–12 districts, higher education institutions, workforce leaders and policymakers, the discussion explored how these partnerships can strengthen college access while creating clearer connections to postsecondary education and high-demand careers. Presenters from Cal Poly Pomona, CSU Long Beach and Pomona Unified School District shared promising approaches designed to expand opportunity and improve pathway alignment for students historically underrepresented in higher education.

With support from the Gates Foundation, UNITE-LA is working with Long Beach and South Bay partners in the L.A. Region K-16 Collaborative to strengthen how students move from high school into postsecondary education and high-quality careers. Grounded in a recent national report on career pathways for young people, the California Purposeful Pathways Project brings K–12 and higher education partners together to improve advising, dual enrollment and career-connected learning systems, helping ensure students can navigate seamless education-to-career pathways.

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.

"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.