Reflecting on 2023 & bidding farewell to Alex 💐

We began 2024 grounding ourselves in reflection and gratitude. As we wrapped up our 2023 Annual Report, we felt appreciation for everyone in our Solidarity Ecosystem who made LA Más’ work possible last year. It was in 2023 when we partnered with community members, artists and organizations to bring our inaugural community exchange fair NELA Comp{arte} to life. It was also the year we stewarded the Food Justice Collaborative and were inspired by the cooperation among grassroots mutual aid groups. By the end of the year, we launched NELA Community Housing Alliance, a coalition of residents and allies working toward housing stability. All throughout, we gathered outdoors and at local spaces across Northeast LA. By rooting ourselves in place, we embodied our belief that relationships with one another and with land are critical to achieving housing and economic justice.

2023 Annual Report

Reflections & Gratitude for Alexandra Ramirez

It’s with deep gratitude that we bid farewell to Alexandra Ramirez after four and a half amazing years at LA Más. Alex will be shifting into a new role as Executive Director of Los Angeles Walks! We start the year by reflecting on the impact she has left on our organization and community.

Alex first joined the team in 2019 as a Program Manager leading a small business support program when we were an urban design non-profit. When LA Más transitioned to a place-based community organization, Alex became our Director of Network Weaving, building deep relationships with residents and thoughtful partnerships with organizations. She shaped and led numerous programs, including COVID-19 Community Response, Mercadito, Cash Assistance, and Food Justice Collaborative. Alex has been a grounding force on our team – facilitating strategic decision-making, creating processes for us to be accountable to community, and making space for vulnerability, healing and laughter.

We will miss Alex but are excited for her continued fight for social justice in the built environment through her new role at Los Angeles Walks. Celebrate and read more about Alex's journey here.

Celebrating our outgoing Board of Directors

In early 2022, we welcomed a new cohort of Board of Directors to usher in our next chapter as a place-based community organization: Daniel Paredes, Helen Campbell, Maribel Garcia, Phung Huynh, Ronnell Hampton, and Sean Doss. They helped shape our programs and organizational infrastructure – supporting us as we centered community, expanding our thinking and in-house expertise, and connecting us to new partners. As our programs took different iterations and our staff experienced transitions, this board grounded us as we were evolving. After two years, the majority of this board ended their term, with Helen C staying on to support transitions. We’re grateful to our departing members for stewarding LA Más during a time of transition: Maribel expanded our knowledge of mission-aligned funders, Ronnell encouraged us to thoughtfully track and evaluate our impact, Daniel grounded our housing work with his family’s lived experience, Sean helped frame our work in a way funders can understand, and Phung shaped our warm, family-like board culture.

As we begin a new board term in 2024, we’re thrilled to welcome seven leaders who have been allies to LA Más and our community in various ways: Alyssa López, Ashley Atkinson, Betty Avila, Jennifer Rodriguez, Natalie Donlin-Zappella, Oscar Monge, and Tim Quinn. With financial sustainability top of mind this year, we will be looking to this board’s leadership on fundraising and organizational development. More than half of this board has Northeast LA roots, and many have working expertise in housing – a top priority this year as we mobilize the NELA Community Housing Alliance.

Mobilizing for Community Housing in NELA

After exploring the feasibility of LA Más acquiring housing in 2023, we knew that we couldn’t do it alone. We had been in talks with community members and allies about what tangible pathways could prevent displacement in Northeast LA and how we could realize those strategies together. So in December, we launched the Northeast Los Angeles Community Housing Alliance (NELACHA): a coalition of residents and allies working to create community-stewarded, permanently affordable and stable housing. Our kickoff meeting presented the idea to our community, who were excited to engage their neighbors and/or work on policy advocacy that would create housing – for the community and by the community.

If you’re passionate about community stewardship, affordable housing, and making sure working class communities of color can stay in the neighborhoods they’ve shaped and called home for years, join us! Our next meeting is Tuesday, January 23 at Glassell Park Senior Center. These bi-monthly meetings are part popular education, part collective work session – helping us get closer to our goal of securing affordable housing by the end of 2024.

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