Talent Hub Leader Profile: Alysia Bell, UNITE-LA

UNITE-LA has worked since 1998 to collaborate on the continuous improvement of public education and workforce development systems in Los Angeles, preparing young people for fulfilling, high-wage employment. As an independent intermediary, UNITE-LA brings together city and county leaders, social service providers, employers, institutions of education, community-based organizations, and other community stakeholders to support Angelenos from historically marginalized communities. In 2017, UNITE-LA was designated the lead organization for the Los Angeles Talent Hub, a designation they maintain today through their catalytic systems change work.

Founding President David Rattray led UNITE-LA for 24 years. He announced his retirement in March 2022 and the UNITE-LA Board named Alysia Bell his successor. A native Californian who began her career with the Los Angeles Unified School District, Bell has been at UNITE-LA for more than a decade.

Serving students who face systemic barriers to education, career success

UNITE-LA’s mission is to provide equal access to education, career, and development opportunities for all Los Angeles youth. From cradle to career, its vision is that all children and young adults will have the tools they need to achieve life success and contribute to a thriving economy and community.

“The youth we serve face systemic barriers to education and career success,” said Bell.

In the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) today, three-quarters of students are Latino and nearly 80 percent are from families with incomes qualified as low-income. Economic and racial segregation is profound, and this isolation can affect educational outcomes.

A report published by the Brookings Institution in 1998, the year UNITE-LA was founded, said “on every tangible measure — from qualified teachers to curriculum offerings — schools serving greater numbers of students of color had significantly fewer resources than schools serving mostly white students.” A 2017 report by the Center for American Progress noted youth attending schools where at least 75 percent of students are eligible for free and reduced-price lunch have a 68 percent chance of graduating. Students in low-poverty schools, meanwhile, have a 91 percent chance.

UNITE-LA launched in 1998 when the City of Los Angeles, LAUSD, and the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) won a federal school-to-work grant. The organization initially focused on contextualizing school-based learning, building career awareness, and connecting school- and work-based learning. Now it works to influence all systems, programs, and policies — from paid family leave to postsecondary education success — that impact an individual’s ability to access a high-wage, fulfilling career.

“We improve the connective tissue,” said Bell. “The early years of a child’s life set them up for future learning. A person’s K-12 experience influences their transition to post-secondary education and the workforce. It’s all connected. We have to look at the cradle-to-career connection to produce the kind of impact we want to have.”

“We improve the connective tissue,” said Bell. “The early years of a child’s life set them up for future learning. A person’s K-12 experience influences their transition to post-secondary education and the workforce. It’s all connected. We have to look at the cradle-to-career connection to produce the kind of impact we want to have.”

Strengthening systems, changing policy, and delivering programs that work

To change youth outcomes, UNITE-LA focuses on three pillars: strengthening systems, advocating for policies that affect a person’s ability to learn and work, and directly impacting students through effective programs.?

“UNITE-LA is systems change organization enabled by our policy work and informed by our programmatic work,” said Bell. “This approach is our multiplier effect. It enhances our ability to advance equitable opportunities, get results through collaboration, be community-informed, and achieve an effective education and workforce system where everyone can achieve.”

Central to the organization’s systems change work is the L.A. Compact, a bold commitment by Los Angeles educators, employers, community organizations, and other stakeholders to close the education and workforce gaps caused by systemic inequities and racism. Since the L.A. Compact was established in 2008, LAUSD graduation rates have improved from roughly 50 percent to more than 80 percent.

Today, 24 leading L.A. organizations and institutions make up the L.A. Compact and have committed to big, audacious, systemic goals. Compact signatories understand that as leaders and public stewards, it is our responsibility to create the enabling conditions that will allow all children and youth to reach our collective goals.

A deep understanding of the cradle to career connection

In 2006, Bell left California for Irving, Texas, a diverse, close-in suburb of Dallas, where she served as vice president of workforce development and administration at the Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce.

“As we would woo businesses to relocate, their first question was about education — for their own children and their talent pipelines,” Bell said. While in Irving, Bell designed and launched a youth leadership program that connected students who were struggling academically with project-based learning opportunities in high-growth industries.

After five years, Bell was longing for home. She began looking for organizations that did education and talent development intermediary work, and quickly found UNITE-LA. She joined UNITE-LA as director of business education coalitions in 2011.

One of Bell’s first efforts at the organization was establishing a formal partnership with the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) in which UNITE-LA would provide technical assistance, fundraising, and programming related to education and talent development to benefit chambers of commerce across the country. This partnership resulted in a successful fellowship program to support chamber executives in advancing education and workforce development action plans for their region. Nearly 200 chamber executives have completed the year-long fellowship.

Statewide, Bell has helped staff the Education and Workforce Development committee of the R.E.A.L. Coalition, a statewide group made up of 19 of California's most influential business associations collectively representing 15,000 employers and 3.9 million jobs in California, which works collaboratively to advance statewide policies relating to quality of life and economic competitiveness. UNITE-LA also recently joined and helps staff the Education and Workforce Development committee of the California Stewardship Network (CSN), a statewide alliance of regional leaders committed to improving government and creating inclusive, sustainable growth for all. CSN is built upon a foundation of collaboration to move triple-bottom-line solutions that balance equity, the environment, and the economy.

UNITE-LA’s close work with the business community has helped contribute to important public policy achievements, Bell said. “The collaborative efforts have led to increased investments for early childhood learning, higher education access and success, criminal justice reform, and workforce development aligned with the region’s needs.”

Continuing a legacy of servant leadership

“When you pause to think about all David and UNITE-LA accomplished in 24 years, it’s mind-blowing,” said Bell.

When it comes to strengthening systems, for example, UNITE-LA came together with California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and three L.A. Community College District colleges to launch a reverse transfer program, CSUN Connections, in which students apply credit from a four-year institution back to the two-year institution for the purpose of obtaining an associate degree. The CSUN Connections program helped Los Angeles earn a Talent Hub designation in 2017. Additional systems-related highlights include UNITE-LA helping to broker data-sharing agreements that have led to better teacher preparation practices and now offer LAUSD greater insight into teacher turnover, and the L.A. College Promise, an initiative led by LACCD, LAUSD, and the Office of Mayor Eric Garcetti in partnership with the L.A. Compact, enrolling more than 20,000 students in the program, which provides tuition assistance and other support to full-time students.?

With its advocacy partners, UNITE-LA has helped get more than 20 bills signed into law. The legislation includes the Higher Education Student Success Act and an expansion of Linked Learning, an educational approach that combines academics, career and technical education, real-world experience, and student support. UNITE-LA also played a critical role in establishing a $500 million state career pathways trust fund to expand programming that supports students to advance seamlessly from high school to college and high-skill, high-wage careers.

UNITE-LA’s workforce development programs have served more than half a million Los Angeles youth and young adults. Its L.A. Cash for College program, which helps students, and their families prepare for college, provides assistance to complete financial aid forms and has helped more than 300,000 students access $3.5 million in scholarships and $1 billion in state and federal financial aid.

With Rattray, UNITE-LA had a dedicated servant leader. Los Angelenos can expect the same from Bell, who has gotten right to work alongside the long-tenured, 40-person staff.

UNITE-LA’s systems team will lead efforts to expand the L.A. Compact throughout the region, serving as the regional convener for a recently awarded $18 million K-16 collaborative grant that will streamline educational pathways, increase equitable degree attainment, and address local labor market demand.

In partnership with the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), UNITE-LA will expand the work of the Los Angeles Digital Equity Action League, or LA DEAL, which aims to eliminate digital redlining. The LA DEAL consortium is a collaborative, community-driven process to assess and tackle the broadband gaps that exist in both urban and rural communities across the Los Angeles region.

UNITE-LA recently outlined a revitalized policy agenda, aligned with its established Principles for a New Economy, that provides a specific roadmap for how California policymakers can continue to strengthen the state’s cradle-to-career education and talent development systems.

Regarding programming, Bell has set a goal to increase the number of youth UNITE-LA serves through its workforce development programs by 25 percent year-over-year and continually make it more responsive to employer needs. These programs currently serve 5,000 students annually; Bell’s aim is to double that number by 2025.

“I love this work,” said Bell. “The ability to contribute to my community is a dream job.”