2023 victories, highlights and more to come!

2023 was LA Forward's most powerful year so far. We’re so proud and grateful for what our community – a growing team of staff, volunteer leaders, and members have achieved together. Some of the highlights:

* Progressive Campaign Leadership Academy: Our Progressive Campaign Leadership Academy is recruiting and training a diverse cohort of LA County residents to be candidates and campaign staffers in 2024 and beyond.

* Judicial Leadership Academy: Our Judicial Leadership Academy, a collaboration with La Defensa, equips a cohort of progressive attorneys and community members with the skills they need to run for and win seats as LA County Superior Court judges. These leaders are public defenders, civil rights attorneys, and community advocates who are committed to transforming the criminal justice system.

*District-by-District LA City organizing: In almost every LA City Council District, we organized community convenings to grow a progressive base and build political power that puts the issues that matter most to our members at the forefront. Thanks to these efforts, we formed an Unarmed Crisis Response Working Group, which champions unarmed crisis response that will shift resources and responsibilities away from police, and expand compassionate, people-centered responses for our most vulnerable residents.

* Housing Justice Action Team: This year, we launched our Housing Justice Action Team, a six-month cohort for dedicated LA residents eager to sharpen their organizing skills, deepen their housing policy knowledge, and take collective action. 

* Advocacy Actions: We’re empowering our communities with ways to take action on the issues they care about. Thousands of you are using our online tools press for policy change – fighting for affordable housing at Venice Dell, telling the LA City Council to expand unarmed crisis response, creating fair LA City Council districts and more.

    

And don't sleep on our 501(c)(3) nonprofit partner nonprofit, LA Forward Institute (LAFI)! If LA Forward isn't working on something, LAFI probably is... a few highlights

* Report Forward: LAFI launched Report Forward as a platform dedicated to highlighting the work of movement groups and emerging progressive policies. Spearheaded by journalist Alissa Walker, Report Forward is a monthly newsletter that shines a spotlight on policy proposals from LA County's vibrant social justice groups. Each issue also tracks the real-world impact of these efforts. We’re going to continue expanding our efforts to drive storytelling that empowers and equips our communities in 2024 and beyond.

* SGV Housing Justice Academy: This year, LAFI proudly introduced a six-month leadership development cohort in the San Gabriel Valley. Our goal is to nurture committed and skilled advocates in the fight for affordable housing and housing justice in the SGV and beyond.

* Cleaning Up LA City Hall:  In the wake of multiple corruption convictions, and leaked audio of Nury Martinez and Kevin de León that put an international spotlight on their racist and anti-renter efforts to gerrymander the City Council, it’s long past time for clean house at City Hall. LA Forward Institute is deeply involved in coalition efforts to end gerrymandering by creating an Independent Redistricting commission to determine district boundaries, create publicly financed elections, and many more anti-corruption pro-democracy reforms.

* LA City Council Candidate Forums: LAFI hosted the first set of LA City Council candidate forums of the 2024 cycle. These nonpartisan forums offered a chance for Angelenos to engage in robust, community-driven conversations with candidates running to represent them. LAFI hosted forums for City Council districts 2, 4, 10, and 14 – while over 600 of you attended, you can watch the videos on LAFI's website. 

* Best Start: LAFI worked with Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE) to advance the housing justice knowledge of dozens of community members primarily across Southeast LA – many of whom are monolingual Spanish-speaking residents. In 2024, participants will build on their workshops from 2023 with direct application to local housing justice work meaningful to them! 

Our LA Forward family of organizations has been able to achieve all of this thanks to a team that's rapidly growing in size. To keep up the momentum, we're counting on support from our community, from people like you.

I hope you'll donate today at laforward.org/contribute.

Direct contributions to LA Forward, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, are best – they give us the flexibility we need to advocate for policy change and endorse candidates. 

Need a tax-deduction or have the ability to give through a foundation or donor-advised fund? We also encourage and welcome gifts to our 501(c)(3) nonprofit partner, LA Forward Institute (LAFI). More info on giving via check/DAF can be found on LA Forward Institute's website at laforward.institute/donate

Thank you for considering us in your year-end giving!

A majority of our budget comes from our members’ monthly donations. In 2024, our goal is to raise 70% of our budget from dues-paying members. That will enable us to be 100% accountable to people like you. Your gift allows us to respond rapidly to emerging issues, to take on powerful interests, and spend as little time possible on fundraising so we can focus on the crucial work that needs to get done every day.