Boldly Changing Career Access for L.A.’s Youth

Alma Castillo was a rising junior in high school in South Los Angeles. A time when students begin making their college and career plans. When they begin dreaming of their future, of who they want to be and the impact they want to have on their community. 

In Alma’s family, money was tight and they struggled to pay the rent and make ends meet, limiting Alma’s opportunity to plan and prepare for life beyond high school. She had no time to “job shadow” or “intern,” or even learn about the vast array of career choices that might be available to her.

Then she came across UNITE-LA, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit, founded in 1998. UNITE-LA prepares underserved students with the knowledge, skills, and values they need to succeed in college, career, and civic life. Working with private businesses and the City and County of Los Angeles, UNITE-LA helps students from low-income backgrounds find transformational summer work and paid internships.

“We work closely with students from historically marginalized communities where students would not normally have access to the employer partners we work with or to the career pathways that UNITE-LA makes available to them through jobs or internships,” says Bridget Netter, senior vice president of programs and talent development. “Our programs help build their confidence and develop their social and economic mobility.”

UNITE-LA’s dynamic career pathway programs include:

L.A. Youth At Work where young adults (ages 16-24) are trained by private sector employers with skills for entry-level employment, 

Real World of STEAM which provides career exposure/awareness to high-demand, high-wage STEAM careers, 

South L.A. Scholars which provides paid work experience in a health care setting for low-income students, and Tech Pathways which connects underserv ed talent to careers in technology. 

All of these programs are free of charge and provide either paid internships, job shadowing or paid work experience. Of the 7,500 students served by UNITE-LA’s college access and career pathways programs this year, many have been placed in rewarding internships with leading employers like Kaiser Permanente, Metro, SNAP Inc., and United Airlines. 

“We have tons of talent among young people in Los Angeles,” says Lisa Catanzarite, vice president of research and evaluation. “We’re bringing learning opportunities and professional contact to those who may not otherwise have avenues where they get to learn about what it takes to become a professional in a particular occupation that piques their interest.”

And that’s exactly what happened to Castillo.  

“As a first-generation, low-income student, I was given the opportunity to learn about careers in healthcare,” Castillo says. “This influenced me to apply to the public health major for undergrad at UC Berkeley… Where I’m currently a sophomore pursuing a bachelor’s degree.” 

“We have big goals,” Catanzarite says. “It’s all about equity and better outcomes… It’s about paving the way to help support young people, capitalize on the talent that is in Los Angeles, and develop that talent and support our community and regional prosperity in L.A.”