2016: Community Leadership Forum

The Junior League of Los Angeles

How do you start an open dialog about important community issues?

Okay. You’ve started the dialog, congratulations. Now, do you involve the community in that dialog?

And then, once you’ve started the dialog and found a way to involve the community, how do you keep that conversation going year after year?

Well, the Junior League of Los Angeles has found the right formula through its Community Leadership Forum.

Since 2008, the Community Leadership Forum has been bringing together key community groups (some of which don’t regularly engage with one another) to focus attention on pressing multi-faceted and interconnected issues such as early childhood literacy, education, foster youth and human trafficking. Government agencies, nonprofits and issues advocates are part of the mix as speakers, and events (in the form of conferences, public forums and training and networking opportunities) are open to the community at large, not just League members.

In 2015, the Community Leadership Forum featured expert speakers from the city, state and federal levels to discuss "The Disturbing Link between Foster Youth and Human Trafficking." In 2014 the forum tackled “Foster Youth as Parents: Providing Support and Breaking the Cycle.”

Both of these events brought to light big topics that created dialog about important issues most of us aren’t particularly familiar with. And, in so doing, helped to firmly establish the Junior League of Los Angeles as a thought leader and critical community convener.