UNITE-LA successfully conducted our first in-person advocacy day in Sacramento in March, sharing our priorities from cradle to career. Additionally, members of the UNITE-LA Policy Team participated in an after-hours reception hosted by our partner, California Student Aid Commission, where the team had an opportunity to reconnect with members of the state legislature, including retired Assemblymember Jose Medina, who authored last year’s Cal Grant Reform Bill, which UNITE-LA co-sponsored. Member offices UNITE-LA met with included: Asm. Al Muratsuchi, Sen. Josh Newman, Asm. Chris Holden, Asm. Robert Rivas, Asm. Miguel Santiago, Sen. Caroline Menjivar, Asm. Kevin McCarty, Sen. Nancy Skinner and Asm. Reggie Jones-Sawyer.

On Wednesday, March 29, UNITE-LA’s President, Alysia Bell, facilitated a panel discussion, Child Care & the Economy, at the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce’s ACCESS D.C. 2023. The panel was introduced by our lead sponsor, First 5 Los Angeles, and consisted of Congressman Jimmy Gomez, leader of the Dads Caucus (CA-34), and Whitney T. Pesek, director of Federal Child Care Policy from the National Women’s Law Center. The panel was developed in conjunction with a report UNITE-LA commissioned in collaboration with Beacon Economics, “The Economic Benefits of a Professional Early Care and Education Workforce in Los Angeles County.” The panel elevated the dire need for collaboration among business, government, local education agencies, nonprofit organizations and the philanthropic community to uplift our early care and education workforce, the children and families they serve and our economy, by ensuring everyone who needs child care has access to high-quality options.