We are excited to share with you “Community Perspectives”—inspiring stories of leadership and change from our 14 Best Start communities in Los Angeles County. Click below to download your copy in English or in Spanish:
Community Perspectives 2014 English (pdf)
By, Ruel Nolledo | Freelance Writer August 19, 2025 First 5 LA’s Board of Commissioners met on August 14, 2025, for an information-only session centered on the urgency of planning for the future in the midst of a rapidly changing policy landscape. Commissioners heard...
Ofelia Medina | Senior Policy Strategist August 20, 2025 On June 27, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law California's state budget for FY 2025-26. The enacted budget includes $321.1 billion in spending — up 3.3% over last year's budget — and will be covered by $228...
By, Ruel Nolledo | Freelance Writer August 12, 2025 The illustration, much like the conversation it tries to capture, is packed with images, ideas, and movement. Values and declarations share space with actions and goals. Our participatory learning process. Not just...
By, Ruel Nolledo | Freelance Writer August 5, 2025 First 5 LA's Board of Commissioners convened in person for its monthly meeting on June 12, 2025. Highlights of the meeting included the approval of the FY 2025-26 Budget and Long-Term Fiscal Plan, as well as several...
By, Ruel Nolledo | Freelance Writer August 1, 2025 "I couldn't find myself in history. No one like me seemed to have ever existed." Leslie Feinberg, author of Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman This August, First 5 LA joins...
Los Angeles, CA (July 2, 2025) - First 5 LA is deeply dismayed by the Trump Administration’s Executive Order which undermines the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution—the provision that guarantees citizenship to all individuals born on U.S. soil. This action...
Los Angeles, CA (July 1, 2025) - First 5 LA President and CEO, Karla Pleitéz Howell released the following statement in response to the enacted Fiscal Year 2025-2026 California state budget signed by Governor Newsom: “First 5 LA recognizes the complex and constrained...
By, Ruel Nolledo | Freelance Writer June 10, 2025 Nine hundred days. That's how long the dream of freedom was deferred for the enslaved Black people of Galveston, Texas. Although President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, it...
Building a Society Without Discrimination “If we desire a society without discrimination, then we must not discriminate against anyone in the process of building this society." Those words from Civil Rights leader Bayard Rustin take on renewed meaning this June as we...
By, Ruel Nolledo | Freelance Writer May 22, 2025 Opening your home to a stranger can be scary. Especially if you're a new mom. Just ask Dani. After the birth of her son, she got a call from a parent educator asking if she'd like to participate in a home visiting...
