First 5 LA recently launched its brand-new Built Environment Policy Advocacy Fund (BEPAF) to support nonprofit organizations and emerging coalitions to advocate for parks and open space, active transportation, public transit, and food security in Los Angeles County. Over the coming year, this initiative will support local groups working in and with First 5 LA’s
Best Start communities to organize, mobilize, and build capacity to improve community conditions for young children and their families.
In October 2019, following a highly competitive process, First 5 LA announced that Prevention Institute will serve as the BEPAF initiative intermediary. In this capacity, we will co-design a competitive grant program, co-create a training and technical assistance curriculum, and develop a learning and evaluation framework with our evaluation partner,
Ersoylu Consulting. We’ll also share BEPAF learnings and achievements to inform future philanthropic investments in the built environment in Los Angeles and beyond.
This initiative comes at a particularly exciting time in LA County. Between 2016-2018, LA voters approved $1 billion in taxpayer dollars to finance public infrastructure for parks and open space, transportation, and stormwater. Not only that, numerous local groups have been advocating tenaciously alongside residents to improve access to healthy food, to safe streets and sidewalks, and quality parks and open space. The BEPAF represents a critical opportunity to further invest in the capacity of resident leaders and organizations working to positively impact the region’s most under-resourced and disinvested communities.
Manal J. Aboelata, deputy executive director at Prevention Institute, said, ““We are honored to be working with First 5 LA to strengthen advocacy capacity in low-income communities and communities of color. Oftentimes, these are the communities that suffer from disinvestment and neglect due to historical and current-day policies, practices, and procedures. These inequities show up in the places where people live, work, and play—but these inequities can be reversed. We applaud First 5 LA for committing their resources to this initiative and look forward to this unique opportunity to support policy advocacy, build resident leadership, and add value to important advocacy already underway in LA neighborhoods."
