CONNECTFront Line Leaders Academy - Los Angeles Pilot Program
Building on the success of the first of a two-year pilot, we’ll recruit a second group of young people from LA County – those underrepresented in local public leadership, such as young women, young people of color, and LGBTQ youth – and train them using the Front Line Leaders Academy’s leadership development model to take on greater civic participation roles. We’ll also provide support to the first cohort of young leaders trained last year as they continue community service.
How do you plan to use these resources to make change?
Engage residents and stakeholders
Expand a pilot or a program
How will your proposal improve the following CONNECT metrics?
Rates of volunteerism
Voting rates by race
Participation in neighborhood councils
Government responsiveness to residents’ needs (Dream Metric)
Describe in greater detail how you will make LA the best place to CONNECT.
Front Line Leaders Academy – Los Angeles (FLLA-LA) will train 20 young leaders dedicated to creating lasting change in their communities throughout Los Angeles County. FLLA-LA covers a wide range of civic participation leadership skills: how to be an effective campaign manager, finance director, communications director, field organizer, and even candidate. FLLA-LA equips young people with the skills and confidence to become effective leaders, and prepares them to work on a campaign in any capacity as well as to assume key roles in non-profits, local government, and community leadership. In the application and selection process, we look for applicants who are committed and have the potential to create change in their communities – now and over the long-term.
Participants in the inaugural 2014 FLLA-LA are making strides toward many CONNECT metrics outlined in LA2050. Fellows return to their communities with the ability to increase participation in neighborhood councils through traditional organizing; one FLLA-LA alumni hosted a community event focused on uplifting the concerns of men and boys of color. Fellows also return with an ability to impact government’s responsiveness to citizen needs; an FLLA-LA graduate organized a meeting with the Mayor of Los Angeles to discuss concerns of his neighborhood and community members. Another FLLA-LA graduate interviewed Los Angeles city officials on the “digital divide” and discussed the unequal access to technology among Angelinos. Fellows also work toward improving rates of volunteerism and community involvement; an FLLA-LA graduate facilitated a conference to 140 low-income and first-generation high school students encouraging civic participation. Another graduate facilitated a “Chicano Youth Leadership Conference” to 140-low-income and first-generation high school students on the topic of civic participation.
Please explain how you will evaluate your work.
-Recruit a group of 15-20 diverse young leaders from Los Angeles County – with an emphasis on youth traditionally marginalized from the political process and underrepresented in public leadership, including young women, young people of color, and LGBTQ youth on people of color and women – to participate in the second pilot local Front Line Leaders Academy.
-Train the 15-20 young Los Angeles-based leaders in the areas of candidacy, management, finance, communications, and field which will culminate in their developing a mock individual, district-specific “campaign” plan.
-Cultivate relationships with Los Angeles based partner organizations and recruit and train members of the Young Elected Officials Network to facilitate FLLA in-person trainings and ongoing opportunities to build relationships and skills outside the formal training space.
How can the LA2050 community and other stakeholders help your proposal succeed
Money (financial capital)
Publicity/awareness (social capital)
Community outreach
Network/relationship support