Pictured L-R: (back row) Senior Government Affairs Strategist Jamie Zamora; Community Relations Officer Bill Gould; Vice President of Policy & Strategy Kim Pattillo Brownson; Director of Community Relations Rafael González; Early Care & Education Senior Program Officer Marcy Manker; Communications Manager Marlene Fitzsimmons; Director of Early Care & Education Becca Patton; Early Care & Education Program Officer Kevin Dieterle; County Systems Fellow Reid Meadows; Community Relations Manager Leanne Drogin (front row) Community Relations Officer Alejandra Marroquin; Early Care & Education Program Officer Jaime Kalenik; Government Affairs Strategist Anais Duran; Policy Analyst Taylor Ferguson; Early Care & Education/Family Supports Administrative Assistant Marcy Banuelos.

ECE Summit: On the 6th of this month, First 5 LA, in partnership with the L.A. County Office for the Advancement of Early Care and Education, the L.A. County Office of Child Protection, the Advancement Project and others, hosted the 2019 Los Angeles County Early Care and Education Summit. The event brought together early childhood education leaders from across California for a daylong convening to discuss challenges and opportunities facing the field, including the lack of facilities, the shortage of workers and the high cost of child care. It also served as a platform to release two major First 5 LA-funded reports about the fiscal state of early child care providers in L.A. County. KPCC covered one of the reports, in the story “Los Angeles Early Childcare Programs Lack Financial Security.” Click here for more details about the event.

Pictured L-R: James Irvine Foundation Senior Program Officer Jessica Kaczmarek; Director of the Strategic Partnerships Department Jennifer Pippard; California Forward Co-Chair Pete Weber; Office of Governor Gavin Newsom Senior Policy Advisor for Cradle to Career Ben Chida; Strategic Partnerships Manager Kim Milliken Hayden.

Economic Summit: Strategic Partnerships Staff attended the 2019 California Economic Summit in Fresno, CA. This was the eighth annual gathering of private, public and civic leaders from across California’s diverse regions designed to create and inform economic recommendations to the California Governor’s Office for the following fiscal year. Click here for the Summit’s Playbook. Director of Strategic Partnerships Jennifer Pippard kicked off a working session during the Summit with Pete Weber, co-chair of California Forward, with a discussion of First 5 LA’s systems change work in L.A. County. Additionally, both Jennifer and Strategic Partnerships Manager Kim Milliken Hayden facilitated conversations to gather feedback on Cradle-to-Career early adopter grants being proposed to align multiple region-based agencies, stakeholders and institutions.

Pictured L-R: [Top] Northeast Valley Health Corporation (NEVHC) Government and Community Relations Manager Brian Gavidia; NEVHC Clinic Administrator Kimberly Palacios; Senior Government Affairs Strategist Jamie Zamora; NEVHC Pediatrician Dr. Christine Park; NEVHC Pediatrician Dr. Gina Johnson; Government Affairs Strategist Anais Duran; Child Care Resource Center Government Affairs Manager Patrick MacFarlane; Assemblymember Luz Rivas (AD-39); NEVHC Director of Public Relations Rosa M. Guerrero; Health Systems Program Officer Krystal Green; NEVHC Program Manager Alexandra Zamora [Bottom L] Assemblymember Luz Rivas (AD-39); Family Child Care Provider Ramona Aguila.

A Day in The District: First 5 LA hosted an “Early Childhood Day in the District” for Assemblymember Luz Rivas (AD-39) who represents the Northeast San Fernando Valley. The Assemblymember visited two locations: home-based Aguila and Rodriguez Family Child Care Center in Sylmar and First 5 LA grantee and First Connections partner, Northeast Valley Health Corporation at their San Fernando clinic. Through the visits Assemblymember Rivas learned about the importance of family child care homes, and the flexibility they provide to parents as well as the importance of early identification and intervention services (e.g. developmental screenings), and how they work to ensure children are screened and supported. The goal of the day was to demonstrate the “whole child” approach to supporting children and families. Assemblymember Rivas currently serves as a member of the Assembly Appropriations Committee and represents the communities of North Hollywood, Pacoima, San Fernando, Sunland-Tujunga, Sun Valley, and Sylmar.

Pictured L-R: Outreach Specialist at El Nido Family Centers Yamilet Guerra; Family Supports Program Officer Maria Aquino.

Holidays and Resources: Valley Presbyterian Hospital held a Holiday Resource Fair for families enrolled in the Welcome Baby program. Resource exhibitors included the Panorama City and Neighbors Best Start Partnership members who shared information on early literacy, a Diabetes Nutritionist who increased awareness of sugar content in sweetened beverages, a physician who discussed breastfeeding and infant diet and a chef who did healthy food demonstrations. Despite the rain, many families, including dads, attended to learn about the resources and take a printed photo with Santa. Families Program Officers Maria Aquino and Christine Tran joined in the festivities and also took a photo with Santa.

Pictured L-R: Community Relations Manager Fabiola Montiel; U.S. Census Bureau Staff; California Complete Count Regional Program Manager Sara Pol-Lim; LACOE Immigrant Relations Coordinator Carolina Sheinfeld; Children’s Partnership Communications Associates Nancy Olivares; California Complete Count Education Outreach Manager Mignonne Pollard; Advancement Project Policy and Research Analyst for Political Voice Alejandra Ramirez-Zarate; NALEO Educational Fund Regional Census Campaign Manager Giovany Hernandez.

Census 2020: The Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) hosted a school district convening to announce the Office’s intention to distribute $2 million from state funding to 43 school districts for Census outreach. Community Relations Manager Fabiola Montiel attended the meeting as part of First 5 LA’s collaboration with LACOE’s Immigrant Relations Office to make sure all young children are counted in the 2020 Census. As part of the collaboration LACOE will help distribute First 5 LA and First 5 Association census-related materials as part of their larger “Count Me In!” campaign. Fabiola shared her thoughts about the event: “As communities know that babies are undercounted and how it impacts current and future students’ learning opportunity, more people want to help spread the message and importance of counting young children. I am so lucky, First 5 LA has great resources to fit that need.”

Pictured L-R: [Top] Strategic Partnerships Specialist Gabe Dee; Director of Community Relations Rafael González; Community Relations Officer Alejandra Marroquin; Director of Strategic Partnerships Jennifer Pippard; Strategic Partnerships Manager Kim Milliken Hayden; Strategic Plan Project Manager Kaya Tith.

Building & Bridging: Colleagues from the Community Relations, Strategic Partnerships and SPR4 Teams attended CHANGE Philanthropy’s 2019 UNITY Summit: Building & Bridging Power in Seattle, WA. The four-day conference welcomed over 800 participants from across the country, focusing on expanding their individual and institutional practice in order to advance equity with an intersectional lens. “We seek to create space for all attendees to participate as thought leaders and philanthropic activists. Through the blend of your voices, movement leaders’ wisdom, audacious vulnerability and a commitment to action, we hope that our time together at the Unity Summit will be inspiring and transformative,” said the conference organizers on the event’s website. CHANGE Philanthropy, formerly known as Joint Affinity Groups, is a coalition of philanthropic networks working together to strengthen bridges across funders and communities. First 5 LA is an active member.

Pictured L-R: U.S. Census Bureau Assistant Regional Census Manager, Los Angeles Regional Office, Luz Castillo; Director of Community Relations Rafael González; Director of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Los Angeles Regional Office Julie Lam; Assistant Director for Field Operations U.S. Census Bureau James Christy.

Census 2020: Director of Community Relations Rafael González joined the U.S. Census Bureau for a Latino-media press briefing, unveiling their 2020 Census operations. Rafael, who addressed the importance of counting young children in the upcoming census, sat on a panel with the Bureau’s Assistant Director for Field Operations and Regional Director of the L.A. Regional Office, among others. The briefing, held at Plaza de la Raza in Lincoln Heights, welcomed seven major Latino media outlets including La Opinión, Univision, Telemundo and Estrella TV — La Opinión quoted Rafael in their piece, “El censo es seguro, fácil y muy importante.” “This was a great opportunity to message to the Latino community on the importance of counting young children especially in regard to the much-needed community resources and community/economic stability in our neighborhoods,” said Rafael about the briefing.

Pictured L-R: Public Policy & Government Affairs Local Policy Specialist John Bamberg; Senior Government Affairs Strategist Jamie Zamora; Strategic Partnerships & Community Relations Administrative Assistant Jessica Mercado; Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon; Government Affairs Strategist Anais Duran; Policy Analyst Taylor Ferguson; Community Relations Officer Bill Gould.

Team Volunteering: The Monday before Thanksgiving, members of the Policy, Community Relations, and Strategic Partnerships Departments volunteered for Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon’s 2019 Turkey Giveaway in the City of South Gate. Rendon’s annual event provided Thanksgiving dinners to over 700 families from the 63rd Assembly District. To support the event, colleagues unloaded turkeys, sorted food bags and helped carry food to attendees’ cars. Speaker Rendon represents the communities of Bell, Cudahy, Hawaiian Gardens, Lakewood, Long Beach, Lynwood, Maywood, Paramount and South Gate.

Pictured L-R: Event Staff Imelda Rubio; Assemblymember Blanca Rubio; Event Staff Imelda Lizette Rubio.

Gobble Gobble: First 5 LA hosted a booth at Assemblymember Blanca Rubio’s Annual Health Resource Fair and Operation Gobble Turkey Giveaway last Tuesday at Edgewood High School in the City of West Covina. This was the Assemblymember’s third holiday turkey giveaway, which she held in partnership with the West Covina Unified School District. The event welcomed more than 100 local families who, in addition to the Thanksgiving meals, were able to receive complimentary health screenings. First 5 LA’s event staff members Imelda and Imelda Lizette laughed with the Assemblywoman as all three of their last names were Rubio, and they joked they were the “family Rubio.”

Pictured L-R: Family Supports Program Officer Christine Tran; Health Systems Program Officer Tina Chinakarn.

Renewal Summit: Health Systems Program Officer Tina Chinakarn and Family Supports Program Officer Christine Tran recently attended The Atlantic Magazine‘s Renewal Summit, a half-day event focused on what it will take to ensure quality of life and greater opportunity for all Angelenos. Speakers included Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner; City of Los Angeles Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson; and CBS Los Angeles/KCAL9 News Anchor Suzie Suh. The Atlantic has hosted a Renewal Summit in several major cities across the U.S., exploring questions of quality of life by inviting local policy makers, community leaders, entrepreneurs, artists and urbanists to explore the challenges and solutions in their community. Click here for a full recording of the event.

Pictured L-R: [Top] First 5 LA Pritzker Fellow Melissa Franklin; Deputy Director at Los Angeles Department of Public Health Debbie Allen [Bottom] UCSF PTBi SOLARS Study Program Manager Brianne Taylor; Special Projects Manager Amelia Cobb; Maternal Child Adolescent Health at California Department of Public Health Chief Leslie Kowalewski; Preterm Birth Prevention/Low-Dose Aspirin Provider Toolkit Subhashini Ladella, MD.

Birth Equity Summit: First 5 LA partnered with The March of Dimes and the L.A. County Department of Public Health to host the California Birth Equity Summit 2019. Held at the Center at Cathedral Plaza, the sold-out event welcomed hundreds of professionals from across the state to discuss causes and solutions to the black infant and maternal mortality crisis. Through keynote speakers and panel discussions the conference focused on uplifting voices of Black mothers to create change; collective impact and anti-racism initiatives; community doula programs and legislation; models of community engagement and mobilization; and more. First 5 LA Pritzker Fellow Melissa Franklin and Deputy Director at Los Angeles Department of Public Health Debbie Allen opened the event. Special Projects Manager Amelia Cobb also moderated a panel about “California Equity Projects and Programs” and Family Systems Program Officer Brandi Sims served as a breakout session panelist focusing on “Community and Family Partnerships, Empowerment, and Mobilization.”

Pictured L-R: Silicon Valley Community Foundation Vice President and Director of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships Avo Makdessian; Vice President for Policy and Strategy Kim Pattillo Brownson; California Department of Education Deputy Superintendent for the Teaching and Learning Support Branch Sarah Neville Morgan.


Policy, Partnerships and Practice: First 5 LA Vice President of Policy and Strategy Kim Pattillo Brownson served on a panel at Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s Center for Early Learning conference, Policy, Partnerships and Practice: Intersections for Early School Success. The one-day conference, held in San Mateo in November, focused on building effective early learning communities in the Bay Area. Kim’s panel covered updates from Sacramento, including information about recently passed legislation and the 2019-2020 state budget. They also discussed the Governor’s fledgling Early Learning Master Plan and the California Department of Education’s work on the federal Preschool Development Grant.




March 14, 2024, Board of Commission Meeting Summary

March 14, 2024, Board of Commission Meeting Summary

Ruel Nolledo | Freelance Writer March 27, 2024 The First 5 LA Board of Commissioners convened in person and virtually on March 14, 2024. The agenda included the approval of a new Early Care & Education agreement, an authorization for First 5 LA staff to receive...

New Study Examines Developmental Concerns of Families in WIC

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 Ann Isbell | First 5 LA Health Systems Program Officer March 27, 2024 Because parents are deeply attuned to their children, they are often the first to notice a developmental concern. But when they have questions about their child’s developmental progress, many...

March 14, 2024, Board of Commission Meeting Summary

February 8, 2024, Board of Commissioners Meeting Summary

Fraser Hammersly | Digital Content Specialist February 29, 2024 First 5 LA's Board of Commissioners convened in person on Feb. 8, 2024. The agenda included the election of chair and vice chair positions; presentations on First 5 LA’s building and capital improvement...