California State University, Los Angeles
EN-13: Community Stakeholder Engagement

Cal State LA holds quarterly “New Partner Orientations” to introduce the University’s emphasis on partnership and collaboration. The orientation includes a brief overview of opportunities to partner with our campus, including volunteer days, internships, and service learning projects, and provides time for community organizations to meet our faculty and staff to brainstorm possible projects for collaboration. Cal State LA’s orientations regularly attract 50 potential new partners every quarter.

Participants come to us via word of mouth and special outreach activities on behalf of the Center for Engagement, Service, and the Public Good. The Center makes a point of identifying partners who reflect the interests and experiences of Cal State LA students, and all community partners must have an MOU with the University before we can send students to their sites for service learning and volunteer opportunities.

Cal State LA has multiple initiatives, including GO East LA, a cradle to career initiative that encourages participation from low income and historically underrepresented populations.

The GO East LA: A Pathway for College and Career Success initiative was created in May 2014 to promote greater academic outcomes for all East L.A. students by focusing on college awareness, preparation, completion, and career readiness.

Modeled after the Harlem Children’s Zones initiative, GO (Great Outcomes) East LA is a partnership between Los Angeles Unified School District, East Los Angeles College, and Cal State L.A. that recognizes that success in higher education and career readiness begins at early childhood and that support for families is a group effort between schools, community, government and businesses.

Through sustained engagement with community, school, and business partners, GO East L.A. seeks to meet the following goals:
•Every child being prepared to enter school
•Every child being supported in his or her academic pursuits
•Every student being successful academically and enrolling in postsecondary education
•Every student completing a postsecondary certificate or degree and enter a viable career
•The community being provided with the human resources, drawn from within, that employers need to be successful

Cal State LA has hundreds of community partners who collaborate with us in different capacities. Below is a list of members belonging to the President’s Council, California State University, Los Angeles.

Gilbert Barajas, Founder and Director, Periodontal Health Group
Andy S. Bicos Director, Enterprise, Technology Strategy for Flight Sciences and Systems Engineering, Chief Engineer for Aeromechanics Technology, Boeing Company
Bill Bogaard, Former Mayor, City of Pasadena
Scott Budnick, Founder and President, Anti-Recidivism Coalition
Elise Buik, Chief Executive Officer, United Way of Greater L.A.
Elisa Callow, Founding Director of the Armory Center for the Arts
Steve Cooley, Retired, Los Angeles County’s 41st district attorney
Richard Cordova, President and CEO, Children's Hospital Los Angeles
Art Delgado, Superintendent, Los Angeles County Office of Education
Frank DeSantis, Entrepreneur, Founding President of the Harbor UCLA Medical Research Institute
Victor Dominguez, Senior Vice President, Operations/Community Development, YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles
María Elena Durazo, Vice President for Immigration, Civil Rights, and Diversity
Unite Here
Sandra Figueroa-Villa, Executive Director, El Centro del Pueblo
Marshall Geller Managing Partner, St. Cloud Capital
Erika Glazer, Private investor and philanthropist
Mark Steven Greenfield, Artist and former arts administrator with the LA Department of Cultural Affairs
Ana Guerrero, Chief of Staff, Office of the Mayor, City of Los Angeles
Helen Hernandez, President and Founder, Imagen Foundation
John Huerta, Member of the US President’s Advisory Committee for the Arts
Carlos Illingworth, Director of Public Affairs and Government Relations, Safeway, Inc. – Vons Division
Jesse Juarros, Chief Information Officer, Los Angeles County Department of Public Works
Billie Jean King, Founder, World Team Tennis Association
Arthur T. Leahy, Chief Executive Officer, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Kate Lear (Norman), Writer, theater producer and philanthropist
David Lizarraga, Chairman and Founder, TELACU Education Foundation, TELACU Millennium
Mike Lucki, General Partner for Lucki Advisors, LLC
Capri Maddox, Special Assistant City Attorney, City of Los Angeles
Gary Matus, Managing Director, RSR Partners
Omel Nieves, Attorney, Hunt Ortmann Palffy Nieves Darling & Mah, Inc.
Tam O’Shaughnessy, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sally Ride Science
Terrence Roberts, Chief Executive Officer of Terrence Roberts Consultant, Member of the “Little Rock Nine”
David and Charon Sandoval, Retired administrators of Cal State LA
Eva Stern (Marc), Clinical Social Worker and philanthropist
Ralph Terrazas, Chief, Los Angeles Fire Department
John Tracy (Kathy), CTO and Senior Vice President of Engineering, Operations and Technology, The Boeing Company
Nat Trives, Former Mayor of Santa Monica, Professor Emeritus of Cal State LA
Gilbert Vasquez, Managing Partner, Vasquez and Company, LLP
Linda Wah, PCC Trustee
Rev. Mark Whitlock, Jr., Senior Minister, Christ Our Redeemer AME
Willie Zuñiga, President and CEO, Grifols Biologicals, Inc
George Pla, President and Chief Executive Officer, Cordoba Corporation
Kevin Xu, CEO of MEBO International

Cal State LA's department of nutrition science, kinesiology, music, TV/film, public health, nursing, and engineering have created a sustainable, long lasting relationship with the Los Angeles Women's Mission in downtown Los Angeles.

Program Objectives: 1. Design for the Other (or, object becomes subject: Learn that these disciplines can improve the lives of others in direct, vital ways. 2. Growing Empathy: Learn to form a relationship with a mission student, and perhaps their family, to determine a need as the foundation for your discipline practice. Formulating an appropriate plan accounting for constraints. 3. Multi-disciplinary/Collaboration: Learn the value and practice of work in a multi-disciplinary environment. 4. Re-enforce fundamental skills and practice creative skills by having students teach to their peers. 5. Cal State LA volunteers who may themselves be struggling with their career choice and perceive themselves as inadequate scholastically learn that they have so much to offer their peers and have tremendous value. 6. Towards Sustainability: Trained, seasoned student mentors to both guide the work and facilitate the students.

Recent project successes with the Los Angeles Women's Mission include:

Plant installation: approximately 10 student volunteers from Botanical Medicine assisted with the planting of medicinal herbs, training in plant care, and coordinating planting schedules. The mission staff was very enthusiastic about the work done and how well the student team worked together.

General Health Survey tool and HIV teaching certification: RN students participated in the 12 Month Rehabilitation Program at the Anne Douglas Center for Women, and then took 8 hours of class to become certificated to teach HIV information. The mission staff found the Cal State LA nursing students to be very mature, extremely capable, and were perceived as dedicated, caring, knowledgeable and understood what the Mission program participants were experiencing.

Nutrition education: weekly basic nutrition classes covering basic nutrition, various fad diets, supplements, and healthy recipes for snacking. Students left a completed binder with all the nutrition lessons for future students. Mission feedback stated the students were amenable, listened well, and were respectful, organized, and worked well together.

Live music: Chapel sessions covered a list of songs with word sheets that the Cal State LA volunteers chose based on the positive messages in the text and the ease and beauty of singing. Each student had two research questions to combine academic research with experiential case studies, and worked to share the power of music to inspire the feelings of joy, healing, and confidence with the homeless.

TVFM Student Project: Production unit documented the work done at the mission, including the building of a circuit board, the Garden Concert, creation of instructional exercise tapes, and mission staff interviews. Students learned the value and practice of work in a multi-disciplinary environment, and empathized with both their fellow students and mission students as evidenced by the video they shot.

Kinesiology project: students underwent orientation at the Mission and became involved with the women in exercise delivery. They collaborated with the SPU on videotaping exercise demonstrations, such as how to use the weight room machines and modifications of common exercises. One student commented, "Seeing the change in these women allowed me to walk away with more confidence to teach and demonstrate my knowledge of exercise beyond the class room environment."