Vision 2020 Moving East LA Forward Second Annual East LA Stakeholders Summit

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Finding Common Ground for Action

Executive Summary ..2 Summary of Breakout Group Findings 4 Breakout Group Format ... 3 Key points as reported by breakout groups ... 3 Vision 2020Moving East LA Forward Participants . 5

Vision 2020: Moving East LA Forward Second Annual East LA Stakeholders Summit
Executive Summary Vision 2020 is a social movement to address the underlying causes of poverty in the greater East Los Angeles community, through building collaborations among all stakeholder groups. The purpose of the Summit was to increase connectivity amongst the stakeholders of East Los Angeles with the ultimate goal of improving the community by addressing its most pressing issues. The 2nd Annual East LA Stakeholders Summit, Vision 2020: Moving East LA Forward, was organized to work toward the purpose of Vision 2020 by bringing elected officials, a crosssector of public, private, and nonprofit organizations, and community leaders to address the pressing issues of East Los Angeles. Mexican American Opportunity Foundation hosted, and its President and CEO, Martin Castro, welcomed participants and shared the importance of collaboration in a time of diminishing resources. The summits keynote speaker was Congresswoman Roybal-Allard, who shared information on the upcoming election and building community power. One of the points she emphasized is the importance of talking to elected officials in your district, placing phone calls, writing letters, and also exactly what you are all doingbuilding coalitionscome together and speak with one voice, with the same objectives. It makes it a lot easier for us, elected officials, to make a decision on a policy issue. Ritchie Geisel, President and CEO of Bienvenidos, gave an overview of the day, shared takeaways from last years summit and provided context for Vision 2020, focusing on the growing poverty and economic inequality in our society. He concluded by stressing the need to move beyond traditional collaboration to achieve collective impact. Joaquin Beltran, Consultant for Vision 2020 Steering Committee, introduced the breakout group exercise, Finding Common Ground for Action. Please see page 4 for more details. Lunch speaker, Ron Brown Chief Program Officer of Childrens Bureau, described how the Magnolia Place Community Initiative has developed in South Los Angeles during the past five years. He discussed the challenges of bringing many organizations together, including factors such as egos, past history between different individuals and organizations, and the importance of having a common goal that everyone can work toward together. Moreover, he spoke about the importance of intentionally making Magnolia Place its own community entity and not an entity of Childrens Bureau, in order to spread ownership of the initiative among the stakeholders of South Los Angeles and not have it be a project of Childrens Bureau. He concluded that though they have a long way to go before they can claim success, they are continuously evaluating their process and are learning a tremendous amount.

The Voter Registration Panel included Shukry Cattan from Alliance for Justice, Efrain Escobedo from Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, Clayton Rosa from NALEO Education Fund, Pedro Silva from NCLR, and Hector Flores from InnerCity Struggle. The panel touched on the following points: Elections are a collaborative Need for community members to actually work the polls Voter registration needs to take place where citizens are and where they are doing transactions Personalize the voter registration process Connect voter registration to issues that matter most to community members Instill emotion into voter registration and mobilize voters to action Have receptionists ask if people want to register to vote Martha Molina, Field Director from Gloria Molinas Office, shared her support for Vision 2020. She expressed the importance of collaboration and not duplicating efforts, but rather using present networks to continue improving the East Los Angeles community. She spoke about the importance of helping youth, and that the county bureaucracy often makes it difficult to create change in the community.

Summary of Breakout Group Findings

There were 33 community leaders who participated during the breakout group exercise. The participants discussed the topics of Economic Development, Education, Healthcare, Civic Engagement, and Jobs and Workforce Development. Major themes that came out of the breakout groups were the following: Centralize Resources Streamline Communication Unification Develop short and long-term strategy toward moving East LA Forward Build network around a common vision Integrate more of the business community Tap into experts of who can help us in each of the topic areas Include residents in the process Participants expressed interest in continuing to meet and work with the breakout groups in the form of committees to dive deeper into the topic areas. A survey will be sent out to participants to 1) determine next steps on further collaboration through these committees, 2) address the above mentioned major themes, and 3) gather further information on their experience during the summit.

Format of Breakout Groups

Participants formed groups around the following five topic areas1: 1) Economic Development 2) Education 3) Healthcare 4) Civic Engagement 5) Jobs & Workforce Development Each group discussed the following questions for each topic area: 1) Who are the players? 2) What are our assets? 3) What are actions that can be taken in this topic area to move East LA forward? 4) What are other urgent needs in our community that we should address in the short, medium, and long-term?

Jobs and Workforce Development was a topic originally set for discussion at the summit, due to limited participation on this topic, focus was concentrated on the other four topic areas.
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Topic Area: Economic Development

Who are the players? TELACU, Pan American Bank, Business in ELA, East Los Angeles Community Corporation, Community Development Department, County of Los Angeles What are our assets? TELACU, unique cultural, historical sites in East Los Angeles; existing non-profits, educational institutions, small businesses, Gold Line Eastside extension What are actions that can be taken in this topic area to move East LA forward? Strengthen existing organizations, strategic planning (short/long term goals), centralized job bank for employers to post job opening in ELA, VELA resource guide, bring in more business leaders to Vision 2020 business resource guide, join Los Angeles Chamber for clout purposes What are other urgent needs in our community that we should address in the short, medium, and long-term? Foundation advocacy; explore other entities that can support economic development; Metro outreach to support businesses in 3rd St. Corridor, calendar of events in ELA with a marketing strategy

Topic Area: Education Dream Team

Key ?? Vision vs. Goal/Strategy Decision makers vs. on the ground players

Who we have

vs.

Who we want to recruit

Los Angeles Unified School District Monica Garcia Roberto Martinez Gloria Molina Lucille Roybal-Allard

CBOs CROs Charter Schools Occupational centers Alternative Schools East Los Angeles College Banks Adult Schools Cal State LA Local Businesses

Diverse Expertise Networks Commitment Political Awareness/Support Knowledge Base

Plan to engage business and industry Internships

Topic Area: Civic Engagement

Who are the key players
Registered voters Community residents Elected officials and their staff Government: Local/State/Federal Foundations, Churches, social services agencies, Businesses/nonprofits/collaborations/coalitions Neighborhood councils School Community Center PTAs, parent centers, Interest Groups

What are our assets

Presenters/volunteers/promoters (trained & educated on topics) Centers available (nonprofit/business/churches/schools,etc.) Database / Contacts Marketing: Voter Registration / announcements Non-voting members: Volunteer / empower leaders Voter registration forms available at all sites Elected officials o Fed/ state/ local agencies request voter forms Government: Registered voters/ o Build relationships o relevant info available Community o Leaders/Spokesperson

What are actions that can be taken in this topic area to move East LA forward?
Identify key players / community leaders (elected, community, nonprofits, for profit, faith based etc.) Empower business/organizations together and share the knowledge/train ABCs of registering to vote o Voter registration training o Bienvenidos (Info will be emailed SPA7 Community Partnership) Centralizing resources Unified strategic message Mobilize o Outreach volunteers
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Ballot/elections forums and materials (nonpartisan) GOTV Advocacy o train trainers, o history /issues (government structure) Open invite to community members Build a sense of community, cohesiveness and advocacy power

What are other urgent needs in our community that we should address in the short medium, and long-term?
Training/Education Advocacy 101/meet with elected officials Voter registration 101 GOTV etc. Forums Non-Citizens o U.S. Citizenship Register to vote Contact list meet to vote Website: inform on project Promote quality businesses in East LA/commerce/$/Jobs Nonprofit associate / Vision 2020 Voice Immediate: Fed/State/Local politics

Topic Area: Healthcare

Who are the Key Players County hospitals LAC+USC, White Memorial, Private Clinics, (Possibly abusive to community?) Community Clinics (alternative to ERs which are much more costly; preventative health care = wave of the future with health care reform) Specialists (Relieve burdens on ERs and large hospitals) Accountable Care Networks (GI, ob/gym.) (malpractice insurance paid for with FQHCs: incentive for specialists to work with them.

What are our assets

Holistic approaches aquatics, nutrition; exercise: yoga/zumba; mindfulness: stress coping skills; community gardens; cooking classes. Four healthy grocery stores (more fruits/vegetables); social media; use pdas to communicate health issues; patient advocacy through empowerment; Muevete USA (NAHN: National Association of Hispanic Nurses)

Topic Area: Jobs & Workforce Development

Who are the key players?

The nonprofit Network (323 jobs posted)

What are our assets?

Jobs actually available, but people dont know how to access. Should also post for profit job openings

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Vision 2020 | Moving East Los Angeles Forward | Stakeholder Summit Participants | August 22, 2012
Adrian Landa Guzman, Community Organizer, InnerCity Struggle Albert Pacheco, Executive Director, Family Health Care Centers of Greater Los Angeles Alfonso Vega, Director of Clinic Administration, Los Angeles County, AltaMed Health Services Ana Figueroa, 34th District Chief of Staff, Office of Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard Anna Araujo, Executive Director, Boys and Girls Club of East LA Araceli Lopez, Program Manager, Bienvenidos Crystal Morales, Chair, Boyle Heights Coalition for a Safe and Drug-Free Community, Vision 2020 Steering Committee Diana B. Tarango, Board Member, East LA Residents Association Gabriel Buelna, Executive Director, Plaza Community Services Gloria Gonzalez, Program Manager, Plaza Community Services Henry Perez, Associate Director, Inner City Struggle Jaime Rodriguez, District Representative, State Senator Ron Calderon Jesse Torres, President/CEO, Pan American Bank Joanne M Arebalo, Director of Program Development & Funding, VELA Joaquin Beltran, Consultant, Vision 2020 Steering Committee Jocelyn Ramirez, Program Officer, First 5 LA Joseph Herrera, Director, Alzheimer's Association, Greater East Los Angeles Office Josie Cervantes, Farmers Market Program Manager, VELA Kent Wallace-Meggs, Chief Development Officer, Bienvenidos, Vision 2020 Steering Committee Kristie Hernandez, Manager, Legislative and Advocacy Affairs, AltaMed Health Services Laura Ramirez, Dean, Career and Technical Education, East Los Angeles College Laura Barrera, Principal, LB Consulting Lourdes Caracoza, Director of Program Operation, Alma Family Services Manuel Huerta, Director, Eastside Heritage Consortium Martha Molina-Aviles, Field Director, Supervisor Molina's Office Martin Castro, President/CEO, MAOF (Mexican American Opportunity Foundation), Vision 2020 Steering Committee Neri Rivas, Vice President of Operations, Community Union Patricia De La Torre, Director of Family Services, Plaza Community Services Ricardo Mendoza, Field Deputy, 34th District, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard Ritchie Geisel, President/CEO, Bienvenidos, Vision 2020 Steering Committee Sol Del Valle, Assistant Regional Administrator, Los Angeles County, Department of Child and Family Services Stephanie Ivler, Interim Director of Foster Care, Bienvenidos Teresa Palacios, Executive Director, Eastmont Community Center Vanessa Marsot, Director of Mental Health Services, Bienvenidos Yuri Hernandez, Major Gift & Special Events Coordinator, White Memorial Hospital

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