RDA Strategies

On January 23, 2020, LA:RISE partners gathered at Goodwill Southern California for a quarterly Academy Meeting focused on adaptation, creativity, and problem-solving.

Goodwill Southern California’s mission, Transforming Lives Through the Power of Work, reflects its long-standing role supporting people navigating barriers to employment through career services, training, and job placement.

Using the playful prompt, “What Would MacGyver Do?”, the conversation explored how flexibility, resourcefulness, and unconventional thinking can help address complex workforce and community challenges.

The reminder remained relevant: Progress often requires adapting, strengthening partnerships, and approaching barriers differently.

When Local Models Influence National Practice

On December 19, 2019, the United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration selected LA:RISE to be featured on WorkforceGPS as an innovative approach to the design and delivery of employment services.

The interview I participated in, filmed earlier that year, focused on LA:RISE’s partnership model and the role of City collaboration in expanding pathways to employment for people navigating barriers to economic opportunity. The feature was developed as a resource for workforce professionals nationwide to explore promising practices that could inform or be replicated in other communities.

The recognition held additional meaning because the Department of Labor served as LA:RISE’s first funding source before the initiative later expanded Countywide.

On the same day the WorkforceGPS feature was released, I attended Engage LA at the Getty House, the official residence of the Mayor of Los Angeles. More than 300 guests gathered around the theme, “Gift of Giving,” with remarks from Mayor Eric Garcetti and First Lady Amy Elaine Wakeland.

The event highlighted organizations and businesses that balance purpose with profit, including efforts that benefit communities experiencing homelessness.

The experience reinforced something I continue to see: Economic opportunity and community impact become stronger when partnerships, innovation, and shared responsibility intersect.

On November 23, 2019, I participated in the Leadership Insights Session for Future Social Impact Professionals panel at the 10th Annual Circle of Change Leadership Conference as a panelist alongside Corneil Montgomery of Bank of the West, Nason Buchanan of LA Mayor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, Sally Chan of Warner Bros. Entertainment, and Patricia Neri of The Walt Disney Company.

Hosted in Carson, California, the session brought together leaders across workforce development, entertainment, corporate social responsibility, government, and community impact to discuss careers rooted in purpose and service.

The conference is designed to prepare traditional, nontraditional, and first-generation students for leadership success by connecting them directly with professionals across industries.

Spaces like this matter because access to mentorship, networks, and honest conversations can influence how future leaders see what is possible.

On November 22, 2019, the Los Angeles Business Council hosted its annual Mayoral Housing, Transportation & Jobs Summit at UCLA, bringing together leaders focused on housing affordability, equitable economic development, and transportation access across Southern California.

The forum explored collaborative approaches to some of California’s most pressing challenges, including housing affordability, homelessness, small business growth, and leveraging public transportation investments to strengthen communities.

The conversations reinforced an important reality: housing is connected to economic opportunity, health, transportation, and long-term stability.

The summit also introduced research and solutions, including work from the McKinsey Global Institute exploring the affordable housing crisis and opportunities to strengthen economic mobility.

At a time when housing challenges continue affecting communities across Los Angeles, the reminder remains relevant: Meaningful progress requires urgency matched with action.

On October 11, 2019, I graduated from the Southern California Leadership Network’s Leadership L.A. fellowship following our final excursion in Little Tokyo.

The fellowship is designed to prepare and connect leaders across sectors to address issues shaping Southern California, with an emphasis on collaboration, civic engagement, and long-term community impact.

Over the course of the program, fellows explored challenges affecting Los Angeles, including education, economic development, transportation, community safety, sustainability, and arts and culture.

The experience highlighted something often overlooked: Meaningful progress depends not only on understanding challenges, but also on the relationships among the people committed to addressing them.

Programs like Leadership L.A. create space for cross-sector collaboration and help strengthen how communities respond to complex issues.

On October 2, 2019, leaders gathered at the JW Marriott L.A. LIVE for the Third Annual State of Women & Girls Address and Expo to discuss gender equity and progress affecting women and girls across Los Angeles.

The event highlighted milestones, including women holding more than half of City board and commissioner positions and leading departments ranging from transportation to information technology.

The conversations also underscored how policy decisions influence economic opportunity. By increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020, Los Angeles contributed to wage increases affecting nearly half of the City’s female workforce.

Progress deserves recognition. It also requires continued attention to representation, economic mobility, and conditions that support community thriving.

On September 30, 2019, more than 250 leaders across government, workforce development, philanthropy, nonprofit organizations, employers, and employment social enterprises gathered at the Center at Cathedral Plaza in Downtown Los Angeles for A Pathway Forward: Homeless to Hired, a summit I led and produced through the LA:RISE initiative.

The event explored lessons from LA:RISE and examined how public-private partnerships can strengthen pathways toward employment for people navigating barriers to economic opportunity and homelessness.

One of the most memorable moments came before the formal program began, when musicians with lived experience of homelessness opened the day with funk and R&B, creating energy, connection, and a reminder that conversations about homelessness must continue, recognizing humanity, talent, and possibility.

The summit reflected years of relationship building among workforce agencies, employment social enterprises, employers, and community organizations working toward shared goals.

More than presentations or panels, the gathering centered on a question that remains relevant:

What becomes possible when sectors stop working in silos and build solutions together?

On September 21, 2019, I joined thousands of community members supporting Homeboy Industries through its annual Run and Walk.

A longtime LA:RISE partner, Homeboy Industries, demonstrates what becomes possible when workforce development is paired with healing, belonging, and comprehensive support. The organization welcomes formerly gang-involved and previously incarcerated individuals through employment training, wraparound services, tattoo removal, mental health support, and opportunities designed to help people rebuild their lives.

As Gregory Boyle often reminds us: “We belong to each other.”

That philosophy is reflected in Homeboy’s emphasis on kinship, a belief that communities become stronger when people are seen beyond past experiences and offered pathways toward healing and opportunity.

Homeboy’s work continues to challenge traditional ideas of justice by demonstrating that compassion, connection, and investment in people can transform outcomes.

On September 19, 2019, after attending the B Corp Champions Retreat in Los Angeles earlier that week, I volunteered as a coach with Defy Ventures at the California Institution for Women.

The timing was striking.

Conversations at the B Corp gathering explored inclusive economies, systemic change, and redefining success beyond profit. One day later, Defy’s work demonstrated those ideas in practice through entrepreneurship, mentorship, and opportunities designed to support currently and formerly incarcerated individuals.

The coaching day brought volunteers and participants together for conversations centered on goals, possibilities, and life beyond incarceration.

The experience reinforced something important: Potential exists everywhere. Opportunity does not always.

Programs like Defy challenge assumptions about who deserves investment while illustrating how access, community, and belief in people can influence what becomes possible moving forward.

From September 16 to 18, 2019, more than 600 global leaders gathered at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles for the B Corp Champions Retreat, exploring how businesses can contribute to more inclusive, regenerative, and climate-resilient economies.

Hosted by the B Corp community, the retreat focused on systemic challenges such as inequality, poverty, climate justice, and economic opportunity. The event also marked the launch of the B Corp Climate Collective, reinforcing growing expectations for businesses to help address complex social and environmental issues.

The conversations reflected a shared belief: Society’s most pressing challenges cannot be solved by government and nonprofits alone.

The B Corp movement recognizes organizations that use business as a force for good, balancing profit with positive impact for employees, communities, and the environment, while advancing stronger communities and more equitable economic opportunities.

The gathering raised an ongoing question: What becomes possible when success is measured not only by growth but by contribution?