Employing parent workers as advocates in Los Angeles

In Los Angeles, the UCLA Labor Center program, “Parent Worker Project,” helps parents earning limited incomes advocate for their children’s education. The project is funded by W.K. Kellogg Foundation and provides parents with training on how to navigate the school system and access community resources. In addition, children receive tutoring from UCLA students.

The program originally started with a collaboration with Building Skills Partnership called “Parent to Parent, Building to Building, School to School” to improve educational opportunities for janitors, their families and communities. The project trained a cohort of janitor parents who were union members of SEIU United Service Workers West.

For me, it’s very important because I want them to make something of themselves, that they become educated people, that they have a better future.