Community Partners is serving as the administrative home for this multi-partner collaborative effort that will direct $23 million in state funding into a wide range of alternative energy, active transportation and greening projects in the Pacoima-Sun Valley area of northeast Los Angeles. Identified as a community burdened with higher-than-normal rates of air and other environmental pollutants, Pacoima will experience important environmental, health, workforce development and climate resilience benefits through this effort. Community Partners is providing administrative, contract compliance and network support infrastructure to ensure the success of this grassroots, community-led effort. The funding is part of a larger $46 million funding pool awarded by the California Strategic Growth Council (SGC) to both Sacramento and Pacoima, part of its Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) Program. It is the first time SGC has selected a nonprofit intermediary to manage the program.

Community Partners provides human resources services for community intervention workers employed through the City of Los Angeles’ GRYD (Gang Reduction & Youth Development) program. The community intervention workers provide rapid conflict de-escalation responses when gang violence erupts, and also maintain peace-building activities in communities that are not within pre-established gang reduction areas (GRYD Zones).

Community Partners is the intermediary for this $15 million fund, a strategic 4.5-year effort from First 5 that recognizes the need for greater advocacy for early childhood education policies to improve access to quality, affordable early education in LA County. Our role is to make and manage grants in three areas: partnership grants to key organizations to support policy work; field-building grants to enable both traditional and unexpected allies to participate in coalitions and advocacy efforts; and rapid response grants for special projects to address such needs as research, data collection, or communications. We also convene grantees to help them strengthen their relationships with each other and connection to the field, and oversee a learning and evaluation team.

Status: Active

This partnership with the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) supports “creative place-making” projects to make streets and sidewalks around the city more inviting. Community Partners helps the city move funds more quickly to grassroots neighborhood groups and small arts groups that might not otherwise have been eligible for government funding and provides some capacity building services to the grantees. Temporary objects, installations, festivals and other experiences that use art and creative expression are supported by AAF to enliven streets, sidewalks, alleys, and public plazas. The AAF began in 2015.