Pictured L–R: [Top] Government Affairs Strategist Anais Duran; Director of Strategic Partnerships Jennifer Pippard; Vice President of Policy and Strategy Kim Pattillo Brownson; Chief of Staff to Gov. Gavin Newsom, Ann O’Leary; L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce Senior Director, Education Policy & Public Affairs Sonia Campos-Rivera; Strategic Partnerships Specialist Kim Milliken Hayden [Bottom L] President and CEO of the City of Los Angeles’ LA’s Best Afterschool Program Eric Gurna; Kim Pattillo Brownson; Deputy Secretary of the CA HHSA for Early Childhood Development and Senior Advisor to the Governor on Implementation of Early Childhood Development Initiatives Kris Perry; Jennifer Pippard; Kim Milliken Hayden [Bottom R] Kim Pattillo Brownson
ACCESS Sacramento: A team from the Public Policy & Government Affairs and Strategic Partnerships departments joined a delegation of 80 local leaders in the business, education and philanthropic sectors for the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual ACCESS Sacramento trip last week, with the aim of educating legislative leaders on issues vital to the L.A. business community. Delegates met with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration, including Deputy Secretary and Senior Advisor to the Governor at California Health and Human Services Agency Kris Perry, who served as a speaker for the event, and Chief of Staff Ann O’Leary, who was introduced by First 5 LA’s Vice President of Policy and Strategy Kim Pattillo Brownson. Meetings with state assembly and senate leadership gave delegates an opportunity to lobby and present issues vital to the Southern California region, including First 5 LA’s State Advocacy Agenda, with a focus on supporting the Early Childhood Education Coalition priorities, investments in home visiting and First 5 LA sponsored legislation AB 1004. First 5 LA also informed the broader delegation’s talking points related to early childhood development, Census 2020 and how investing in our youngest children makes for a strong economy.
Pictured L–R: Telemundo’s Acceso Total newscaster Elva Saray; Community Relations Manager Fabiola Montiel
Special Election: Community Relations Manager Fabiola Montiel was featured on Spanish language television station Telemundo to encourage parents to vote in today’s Los Angeles Unified Special Election for District 5 (click here for more details on the election). As part of First 5 LA’s approach to promoting civic engagement, Fabiola reminded families that they can bring their kids to the polls and encouraged them to learn more via First 5 LA’s parenting site. Fabiola’s Telemundo appearance is part of a larger partnership with Telemundo, in which First 5 LA will have regular 30-second segments focused on a variety of early childhood related topics. The segments will be part of Telemundo’s “El Poder en Ti” (The Power in You) platform. Look for the formal “kickoff” of our Telemundo segments on May 27.
New Appointee: Congratulations to Early Care & Education Senior Program Officer Ofelia Medina, who was recently appointed by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors to serve as a member of the Policy Roundtable for Childcare and Development. The mission of the Policy Roundtable is to build and strengthen early care and education by providing recommendations to the Board of Supervisors on policy, systems and infrastructure improvement. There are 24 Commission members representing the collective experience of community leaders in early childhood, education, business, economics and research, as well as county departments.
Reading Time & AARP: Continuing our ongoing partnership with CicLAvia, First 5 LA hosted a “Reading Lounge” in April at the Banning Park Hub in CicLAvia Wilmington. Kicking off a partnership with AARP, the First 5 LA booth and Reading Lounge was held next to the AARP booth — AARP was a presenting sponsor of the Banning Park “Play Zone,” which hosted games for all ages and offered benches for weary participants to take a rest. First 5 LA also partnered with the Los Angeles Public Library to give away free books to eager participants. Click here for a short clip of one of the readings.
Pictured L–R: Community Relations Officer Bill Gould and civil rights leader and founder of the Delores Huerta Foundation, Dolores Huerta
Celebrating Parent Leaders: Colleagues from the Community Relations, Families, Communities and Health departments recently attended the CADRE Annual Spring Event benefiting South L.A. parents in their development as leaders, organizers, strategists, facilitators, visionaries and unifiers. The event, held at the California African American Museum, honored South L.A. parent leaders, the Million Dollar Hoods program and UCLA professor Kelly Lytle Hernández, for equipping the social justice movement with groundbreaking research. CADRE also honored Dolores Huerta and her daughter Camila Chávez, respectively the founder/president and executive director of the Dolores Huerta Foundation. The foundation’s mission is to create a network of organized, healthy communities pursuing social justice through systemic and structural transformation.
