Power Academy to Build Immigrant Civic Leadership

Immigrant and refugee support

Central LA East LA San Gabriel Valley West LA Gateway Cities San Fernando Valley South Bay Long Beach Antelope Valley County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit) City of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a citywide benefit)

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Latinos are among the fastest-growing voter groups in the U.S., comprising nearly half of all new eligible voters. However, voter turnout among Latino and immigrant communities has remained the lowest of all racial or ethnic communities (Latino Data Hub 2024). Low-income immigrant communities face significant barriers to civic participation, including accessing in-language content and seeing a lack of representation of their communities at local, state, and federal levels. With key elections on the horizon, including the 2026 gubernatorial election, and the current political climate that increasingly targets immigrant, women, queer, and gender-expansive people of color, it is vital that we foster civic engagement and leadership within immigrant communities. In order to develop leaders who truly represent us, CHIRLA empowers individuals who are most excluded from participating in our democracy and provides a safe space to learn how to use their voices to defend their rights. 

The Power Academy empowers leaders from low-income immigrant communities through mentorship and trainings on electoral organizing, civic processes, and workforce development. We will recruit 15-20 immigrants from Southern California and the Central Valley representing diverse backgrounds across varying ages and experience levels. We will target those who bring unique, intersecting experiences as the next generation of political leaders, including indigenous, queer, and women of color. Most applicants come from CHIRLA’s member base, who are approximately 80% women of color.
Over an 8-week period, the Power Academy will provide comprehensive training for effective civic engagement, providing one-hour sessions in English/Spanish and in-person and virtual formats (hosted in LA) to ensure accessibility. Trainees will expand their civic knowledge of key issues such as affordable housing, immigrant justice, health access, and digital inclusion. This will also be a space to heal and process with community in the face of rising anti-immigrant sentiment and policies. Trainees will then collaboratively create a campaign prospectus focused on a campaign track: Direct Voter Contact Strategies, Digital Inclusion & Organizing, or Communications. Our Civic Engagement team will provide weekly check-ins and support in developing and executing community-focused projects. In addition to knowledge and skills gained, each participant will receive a $2,000 stipend upon completion of the program.

By building empowerment through civic participation, CHIRLA aims to not only build the capacity of individuals but also enhance the collective power of immigrants in L.A. County. The Academy’s impact extends beyond the grant term and lays the foundation for ongoing civic participation by developing lifelong leaders from immigrant communities. As an annual program, the Academy engages a different cohort of community members each year, cultivating a multi-generational pipeline of civic leaders who are prepared to organize their communities. Past participants have led electoral campaigns or taken on staff roles at CHIRLA as call center agents and campaign workers for our integrated voter engagement work, called the Immigrant Political Power Project (IPPP). The IPPP is distinctive because it targets new citizens, Latinos, and Spanish-speakers through Get Out the Vote (GOTV) efforts to empower a new voter base to engage in local, state, and federal dialogues that will impact their lives.