Workforce training for solar power and electric vehicle systems. Expanded support for worker cooperatives. Opportunities for marginalized youth to learn construction, the craft of coffee and producer skills for the fast-growing field of reality TV, concerts and sporting events. 

These initiatives are among 26 innovative program proposals awarded $9 million in state grants to create high-quality jobs in Los Angeles County under the California Jobs First regional investment initiative, the California Community Foundation announced. The “Catalyst” grants, aimed at kickstarting development of projects that center underserved communities, reflect the state initiative’s efforts to promote equity and inclusion in economic planning, along with sustainability, access to quality jobs, competitiveness and resilience.

The selected projects aren’t yet ready for implementation, but the one-year funding will provide support for feasibility studies and other actions to potentially bring them to fruition. They include projects located across the county’s geographical regions, from the Antelope Valley to the South Bay and Harbor areas, and in seven key industries identified as growth areas by the Los Angeles County Jobs First Collaborative, a diverse group of more than 700 community members.   

One of them is Video Production and Distribution, a leading sector in the county’s dominant entertainment industry. Venice Arts, a nonprofit that aims to empower low-income youth to tell their own stories through photography and film education, received a $148,600 grant to research the feasibility of a pre-apprenticeship program that would provide training for working in the fast-growing field of “unscripted media” such as reality and game shows, concerts and sporting events. Karen Kiss, the nonprofit’s director of institutional giving, said the explosion of streaming platforms has boosted demand for such content, as opposed to TV and movies that rely on written scripts. 

Ajani Amiri, director of Venice Art’s Center for Creative Workforce Equity, said such training might include learning how to film on large sports fields or a live stage, more active camera work and a different form of editing. Venice Arts hopes to eventually offer the training to as many as 45 young people, including those who are low-income, unhoused, LGBTQ or involved with the foster youth and justice systems. 

“We’ll be right in the forefront as we get into this new era,” Amiri said. “If we can get people in as the doors are opening, they’ll be able to move up.” 

Other grants in the video production sector went to AllieKits Network Inc., which received $300,475 to provide technical training, mentorship and job placement services to help ensure young women gain access to the creative economy, and Peregrinos de Emaus, which was awarded $325,600 to help underrepresented young people become producers. 

Seven grants were awarded in the industry sector of clean and renewable energy. They included a $400,000 grant to the Miguel Contreras Foundation to establish a workforce training program focused on electric vehicle and hydrogen fuel cell truck conversions in L.A. County. 

Grid Alternatives Greater Los Angeles, Inc. received $360,057 to develop a “Resiliency Hub” in South L.A. to provide solar backup power, workforce training and community services. 

Five grants were awarded in the construction sector, which is projected to grow by 8.5% through 2028, according to a regional report by L.A. County California Jobs First. The 2028 Olympics, affordable housing shortage and wildfires that destroyed hundreds of buildings and homes in Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Altadena are fueling heavy demand for construction and skilled trade workers. 

The grantees included Pasadena City College, which received $400,000 to develop a plan to expand training for more construction workers to fill the critical labor shortage caused by the Eaton Fire disaster. Destination Crenshaw was also awarded $400,000 to upskill workers to prepare for the 2028 Olympics.

The county’s largest employer is health services, employing more than 510,000 people in 2022. Those jobs are expected to increase as the county’s aging population requires more care, but hospitals are already struggling with major shortages of nurses and other health workers. Three grants were awarded in this sector, including $400,000 to the Rising Communities Foundation and $326,255 to The AMAAD Institute to design training programs for community health workers who serve as bridges between medical service providers and those who need care.

Other grants were awarded in biosciences and in transportation and logistics. Five were outside the targeted industries but funded innovative proposals to empower workers, many of them in marginalized communities. Cooperation L.A., for instance, received a $379,369 grant to support efforts to expand enterprises owned by worker cooperatives. 

Rachel Belderston, the nonprofit’s operations manager, said $150,000 of the grant will go directly to three partner organizations that are developing cooperatives: CLEAN Car Wash Worker Center, Garment Worker Center and Collective Remake, which is building a recycling cooperative with workers who were formerly incarcerated. The rest of the funding will go toward a feasibility study to analyze how to expand the cooperative movement in the Los Angeles area, which currently has more than 16 enterprises owned and operated by workers who typically share profits and decision making, Belderston. 

A key area of focus, she said, will be how to increase access to “non-extractive” financing that often forgoes compounding interest, credit scores or collateral — basing lending decisions on relationships instead.

“It’s a way to bring democracy into the workplace and help workers benefit from the fruits of their labor,” she said. “We’re excited about the potential for industry transformation that centers the well-being of workers and communities over profits.” 

The Catalyst grant program drew 127 proposals that were reviewed by CCF, HR&A Advisors and a 10-member review subcommittee, composed of LA Collaborative members without conflicts of interest. The community-led subcommittee made the final recommendations.

Katherine Sacks, an associate director of research for the Milken Institute who served on the review subcommittee, said she was excited to see proposals from newer, smaller organizations with creative ideas. One that caught her eye was In the Mix Inc., which received $164,010 for a “Paint on Purpose” initiative to prepare veterans, foster youth, displaced workers and people involved in the justice system for careers or business ownership in the construction and skilled trades industry. She said the project seemed scalable, which she found appealing.

Najuma Smith, another subcommittee member who is the director of Southern California Community Development Corp., said she was thrilled by the efforts to center equity and community engagement in the economic development strategy and selection process for grants.

The impact, she said, could be transformative for her South L.A. community. 

“We will see opportunities for training in industries that really the community has not seen with this kind of intention,” Smith said. “Is it going to change the life trajectory of people who get better jobs? Absolutely.”

–Teresa Watanabe

Further details about awarded projects can be found here.