This collaboration has expanded the capacity of young people and the civil society ecosystem that supports them, through skills-building, leadership support, and strategic communications. Recognizing the need for sustainable and effective leaders across all sectors, FLA and Latina Futures ensure the Central Coast’s leadership ecosystem has access to best practices around organizational sustainability, fundraising and development, narrative and media fluency, and organizing and advocacy. 

A key component is peer mentorship and reinforcing relationships through a variety of programs that follow young people throughout their journeys. This includes providing young leaders with stipends as they transition from high school to post-secondary education and professional careers. One program is the FLA training weekend that brings together Latina youth leaders from high schools and community colleges across Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. The training weekend equips young leaders with essential leadership skills and leverages the Latina Futures network to foster new relationships with community partners dedicated to improving the quality of life for working-class communities. Recognizing the need to harness the power of Generations Z and Alpha, this collaboration seeks to accelerate a local partner’s capacity to support leaders’ professional development over time. Ultimately, this collaboration provides necessary infrastructure and capacity to increase the efficacy of local leaders to influence decision-making for generations to come.