A group of local funders in partnership with local government departments pooled together funding around a shared priority to integrate trauma-informed principles and practices into systems that serve children and families in Los Angeles County. Community Partners provides a neutral home, back-office services, and logistical and convening support to advance the goals of the initiative, as well as serving as the contractor for lead consultants who run day-to-day operations.

The community capacity strengthening Learning Consortium is a space for people who occupy different places in the larger system of community capacity strengthening in LA County to gain a better understanding of the whole system and possible points of leverage to advance their work in support of communities. It’s a space to cultivate cross-sector relationships, share knowledge, and try on different ways of looking at, thinking about, and responding to the conditions holding problems in place and the challenges and opportunities those conditions present. Participating partners include community-based organizations, county agencies, service providers, and funders. The community capacity strengthening Learning Consortium is a reflective space with a countywide view. It is a creative and critical thinking space with a bit of distance from the day-to-day, so participants can return to the day-to-day with more perspective. We believe the broader, more imaginative view will, in the longer-term, lead to more innovation and coordination in LA County among people and organizations who are supporting community capacity strengthening. The Learning Consortium will continue to develop as our understandings of how it can best serve the outcomes and participants also develop.