CLP Site Profile -- Social Justice Community Organizing Academy, CD Tech, Los Angeles

• CD Tech (Community Development Technologies Center), an independent nonprofit center which initiates programs, partners with community colleges, and provides faculty and other resources.
• Los Angeles Trade and Technical College, a long-term partner of CD Tech.
• An Advisory Committee to CD Tech composed of representatives of community organizing groups and allied nonprofits, including LACAN, Bus Riders Union, Community Coalition, SAJE, Figueroa Corridor Community Land Trust, Inner City Struggle, Union de Vecinos, SCOPE, LAANE, SEIU, UCLA Downtown Labor Center, Communities for a Better Environment, American Indian Community Council and others. Organizations are supporters. The Advisory Committee members work for those organizations but serve on the Committee because of their individual knowledge and skills related to organizing and community development.
• Public Allies (which operates in Los Angeles as a project of CD Tech).
• Community Learning Partnership.

1. The new program will be a one year community 20 college unit Certificate program in Community Organizing.
2. The program is intended to have both an academic (classroom/lab) as well as a work-force development component in the field (internship).
3. The longer term goal is to connect both the academy and other high school level programs into LATTC and then transfer them to existing four-year university programs in the UC, CSU and private colleges, this will depend on resources and the impact of cutbacks in the California community college system.

• The pilot one-year program is currently being designed with the Advisory Committee, with the goal of beginning classes in fall, 2010.

• May be able to offer AmeriCorp slots, income and benefits for some or all of the first cohort’s students.
• Also possible that the program will have access to College Work Study funds to provide income to students.

• Intensive involvement of community groups in the design of the program, teaching, recruitment, placements for the year, and long-term placement for graduates.
• This program is a natural next step for CD Tech which has been the national Pioneer in creating Community College programs to prepare people for careers in community work, having developed the first US Community College programs to train people for careers in Community Economic Development, health promotion, non-profit community building/service organizations, green energy, etc. as part of a broad workforce and economic development strategy.
• CD Tech is also developing high school “dual credit” courses in Community Planning and Development with the local Social Justice/Public Service small learning community high school, with the goal of reaching other high schools throughout Los Angeles.
• CD Tech is moving toward broadening its relationships with other Community Colleges in Los Angeles and with four-year public universities so that the Certificate and AA programs can be fully articulated with and lead naturally into junior and senior year courses in Community Development/Urban Planning with an emphasis on Community Change.

• Benny Torres, Director of Community Planning; CDTech Vice-President of Working Democracy Division
• Denise Fairchild, President, Community Development Technologies Center
• Chrissie Castro, Consultant