Highlights

The Summit included informative and engaging plenary and panel discussions that centered immigrant voices and showcased intersectionality across issues such as economic, health and educational equity, movement solidarity, nonprofit sustainability, and more. Special guests included Mayor Karen Bass, Supervisors Hilda Solis and Lindsay Horvath, Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez and Hugo Soto-Martinez, and LAUSD School Board Member Dr. Rocio Rivas. The Summit also included opportunities for networking and connecting.

As in previous years, the Summit also served as the annual release of the State of Immigrants in Los Angeles County (SOILA) report by the USC Equity Research Institute (ERI). This year, the report highlighted how the L.A. County organizational infrastructure can increase opportunities so immigrant Angelenos can: achieve their potential; empower themselves to engage in civic life; and experience a welcoming environment in our region. The report includes forward-looking lessons taken from practitioners in the field. Both the Summit and the SOILA report are a collaborative effort between the California Community Foundation, the USC ERI, the Council on Immigrant Inclusion, and the Immigrants Are LA coalition, that includes stakeholders from business, labor, community-based organizations, local government, funders, and other sectors.

This year’s Summit continued to focus on the following outcomes:

1. Keep immigrant justice issues front and center and showcase the intersectionality of the issues impacting immigrants.
2. Elevate and advance bold, intersectional, and immigrant-inclusive policies that strengthen and sustain the immigrant rights movement in Los Angeles.
3. Gain public commitments from policymakers to invest in and prioritize immigrant Angelenos through a public pledge or forum.
4. Identify and prioritize strategies that bolster the infrastructure of immigrant rights organizations of all sizes, including increased and strategic investments from government and philanthropy.

The 4th Annual Los Angeles Immigration Summit earned broad coverage across key LA media outlets in print, online, broadcast in TV and radio including in LA Times, La Opinion, Univision34, Telemundo52, KCRW, Agencia EFE, Beacon News Media, KPFA, The San Fernando Valley Sun and Excelsior CA among others. Read more here.