(story by Jasmine Elbarbary, EmpowerLA’s Civic Youth program leader)

 

Our Civic Youth Leadership Academy continued this past Monday with a focus on Outreach, specifically in the context of the upcoming 2019 Neighborhood Council Elections. Special thanks to Department staff Tom Soong, Obiamaka Ude, Octaviano Rios and Ann-Marie Holman.

Tom opened the workshop with a brief history of Neighborhood Councils and overview of the 2019 Election Outreach Plan. Obiamaka discussed the community visioning process with the students and then outlined some outreach tools for students to effectively reach community members and find out what their concerns are. Octaviano then gave an overview of how Neighborhood Councils partner with Elected Officials and other City Departments to solve problems in the community. Finally, Ann-Marie inspired the crowd with a candidate toolkit and a how-to guide on running for a board seat. Civic Youth continues this upcoming Monday with a Resiliency focus and a tour of the City’s Emergency Operations Center.

Now in its third year, the Civic Youth Leadership Academy is a summer program hosted by the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment to engage and empower youth in local government. The six-session course will run through August of this year. Check out www.empowerla.org/civicyouth to learn more and reach out to civicyouth@empowerla.org with any questions.