Annual Report 2015

Annual Report
2015
LURN is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to
bringing people together to design, build, and promote
sustainable communities that allow everyone to live
their greatest potential.
The idea for LURN began in 2008 when a group
of professionals from various sectors came
together over lunch to talk about their love for
cities.
While our dreams for cities were big, we saw serious challenges that seemed to
be getting worse no matter what we were doing in the field.
LURN is working to be a “new school” response to those challenges, leveraging
our roots as a multi-disciplinary volunteer group to craft solutions that are creative,
impactful and always community-centric. LURN believes that the answers to
income inequality, the housing crisis, and other urban issues already exist in the
communities we serve; everyday, residents in low-income areas are adapting and
innovating to survive, and we believe policymakers and community development
practitioners can learn from them.
We’re making progress.
This year was a milestone year for our organization. In 2015, we hired our fourth
full-time staff member (two years ago, we only had one!), we secured our first
federal grant, we seeded our first micro-loan fund, and we even moved into a
new office space.
In the rest of the document, you’ll get a sense as to what happened at LURN in
2015. We’ve organized our work into three primary focus areas: LURN Labs,
our advocacy arm, LURN Capital, which houses our economic development
initiatives, and LURN Advisors, our in-house consulting arm.
As we’ve said before, we haven’t done this alone. We had a great year because
we have great community partners, friends, and contributors who came to our
events, donated when they had a little extra cash, or connected us to a funder or
major donor. We’re so grateful.
– Rudy, Luis, Natalie, and Marlene
Team
Rudy Espinoza
Executive Director
Luis Gutierrez
Senior Associate
Marlene Salazar
Associate
Natalie Kamajian
Operations Associate
Board of Directors
Alfred Fraijo Jr.
Chairman
Partner of Sheppard Mullin
Richter & Hampton LLP
Ginger Hitzke
Treasurer
President of Hitzke Development
Vikram Jadhav
Secretary
Principal of Crux Objectives
Edgar Aguirre
Managing Director of External
Relations and Strategic Initiatives
Southern California Public Radio
Monique Chavoya
Project Director Texas Office
McCormack Baron Salazar
Jeanmarie Hance
President of Collaborative Planning
Reagan Maechling
Development Analyst of Enterprise
Community Investment, Inc.
Sarah Magana Withers
Director of Development of WSS
Ricardo Mireles
Executive Director of Academia Avance
Ami Pascual Spear
Regional Director of Philanthropy
of Southern California
Mercy Housing California
Bill Roschen, FAIA
Principal of Roschen Van
Cleve Architects
Christopher Goett, MSW
Senior Program Officer of
California Community Foundation
Jorge Garrido
Vice President of Mercury
Public Affairs
LURN Labs
LURN Labs is the idea generating and advocacy division of our organization. Through this arm,
LURN advocates for policy that can make urban areas better places to live for their residents.
LURN believes that in order to make an impact in areas that are struggling, we need
“systems change,” and that comes from cultivating leaders who develop new ideas, and by
advocating for policies that provide a framework for everyone to succeed.
LA Street Vendor Campaign
Advocating for a street vending policy was LURN’s first project back when
we incorporated our organization in 2009. We were inspired back then,
and more so now, with the entrepreneurial spirit of street vendors who
work hard everyday to take care of their families.
LURN has been working as part of the LA Street Vendor Campaign to
advocate for a permit system for street vendors in Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, LA is one of the only major cities in the country without a
permit system for sidewalk vendors.
To this end, the City heard the issue twice in the Economic Development
committee, and most recently moved the issue forward to the Public
Works committee. The topic has garnered media attention from various
outlets in 2015.
Free Lots Angeles
Free Lots Angeles, a coalition of six organizations in which LURN is a
member, is an initiative that aims to activate under-utilized and vacant lots
in urban areas. In 2015, we organized three “pop up” events on vacant lots,
and we began putting together a policy proposal to help Angelenos
access vacant lots in their community so they can transform them
into neighborhood-serving spaces.
Eastside Sol
Eastside Sol, a new partnership with organizations that include the
Environmental Defense Fund, CALO Youth Build, LAANE, Self Help
Graphics & Art, and East Yards Communities for Environmental Justice, is
working to raise awareness of alternative energy resources in low-income
communities like Boyle Heights. In 2015, this coalition hosted the first ever
community festival fully powered by solar energy. Another event is being
planned for 2016 along with advocacy efforts.
Events
LURN works hard to bring people together to do good work for cities. In
2015, we organized our most successful Planning and Land-Use Strategies
Summit (PLUS2), this time focusing on the “Informal City.” Speakers from
all over the country shared their ideas on entrepreneurship, housing,
and water conservation, and how we can learn from the practices already
taking place in the “informal city.”
Our Summer Nights & City Stars event, hosted at City Labs Boyle Heights,
was a hit, where we honored Lou Calanche from Legacy LA and Pamela
Paige for the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles.
We also branched out and hosted a special evening at the Pasadena
Playhouse with the cast of Real Women Have Curves and partnered with
the LA Food Policy Council to host a luncheon on the lessons we’ve
gathered by working with small food retailers in low-income neighborhoods.
Lastly, we created a new initiative this year with the support of LA’s
Department of Cultural Affairs and the Center for Cultural Innovation, AyE!
Boyle Heights (Artistas y Empresarios!). The effort aims to promote the
creative economy in our community through events like our successful
Alternative Black Friday sale, while bringing in artists to our office space at
City Labs Boyle Heights.
Taken together, we convened over 800 people through our events this
year.
LURN Capital
The initiatives under LURN Capital rethink how we get capital to communities that
historically have had little access to it. The circulation of capital can help support entrepreneurs,
affordable housing, and even access to healthy food. This year, LURN was able to take
some important steps forward in developing new tools to support wealth generation
in our communities.
COMPRA Foods
Community Markets Purchasing Real and Affordable Foods (COMPRA Foods),
is an effort that began in late 2014 in partnership with the LA Food Policy
Council. COMPRA Foods is a purchasing cooperative and produce
distribution program for small grocers in low-income neighborhoods.
With little to no access to major grocery stores in neighborhoods
like South Los Angeles and MacArthur Park, COMPRA Foods aims to
amplify the capacity of small convenience stores to carry affordable and
healthy produce. Twelve stores became “members” this year, and LURN
was awarded its first Federal Grant from the USDA to support the
expansion of this program.
Semi’a Fund
The Semi’a Fund (Semi’a = Semilla = Seed) is a new initiative, established
this past summer to offer micro-loans to healthy food entrepreneurs.
The loan fund offers low-interest loans, which incentivize borrowers
who demonstrate a track record of on-time repayment with
low-interest rates. The fund is inspired by our advocacy work on behalf
of street vendors, and is designed to support entrepreneurs at the
“bottom of the pyramid,” such as start-up businesses operating in the
informal economy, and entrepreneurs operating their food business
out of their homes. This loan fund was seeded with support from the
FreshWorks Fund, a public-private partnership financing grocery stores
in California.
(Re)store Fund
2015 was a development year for the (Re)store Fund, LURN’s
micro-equity program. This summer, we secured resources from the
California Community Foundation and Citi Community Development to
put some energy into this important initiative that seeks to invest in
businesses in low-income neighborhoods.
In the last quarter of 2015, we’ve built our loan and investment pipeline
to over 25 entrepreneurs, and in partnership with our legal counsel,
we’re scheduled to complete our first investment agreement by year
end.
LURN Advisors
LURN Advisors is LURN’s in-house consulting practice that has helped diversify LURN’s
revenue streams while assisting other mission-oriented organizations in the overall aim
of improving urban communities. Through LURN Advisors, we provide strategic
counsel, program design assistance, evaluation services, and meeting facilitation support.
This year, we had a full portfolio of amazing clients.
Self Help Graphics & Art
We assisted the Board of Directors of this historic arts institution with
operational planning and an important leadership transition. We also
worked with them on developing a series of recommendations on how
the cultural and artistic assets of Boyle Heights can be used to responsibly
revitalize the community.
UMMA Health Clinic & Team Friday
As part of the development of a marketing strategy for the UMMA Health
Clinic in South Los Angeles, LURN designed a survey tool to understand
the needs of residents around the facility and how UMMA can better serve
the population. To administer the survey, LURN hired local community
leaders to talk to local residents.
The California Endowment & EMH Creative Group
This year, LURN served as part of the facilitation team for the South LA
Building Healthy Communities initiative. As facilitators, LURN helped clarify
the goals of the coalition, and catalyze work in the group’s policy
workgroup.
In 2015, LURN also worked on projects with the Mayor’s Office, AARP, the Housing Authority of
the City of Los Angeles, DakeLuna Consultants, and the Pasadena Playhouse.
Community Partners
LURN loves to collaborate, and we were grateful to work great organizations
all over Los Angeles. A partial list includes:
APIOPA
CALO Youth Build
CD Tech
Coalition for Human Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA)
Community Health Councils
East LA Community Corporation
East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
Emerging Markets, Inc.
EMH Creative Group
Environmental Defense Fund
Esperanza Community Housing Corporation
4Earth Farms
Investing in Place
Kounkouey Design Initiative
LA Neighborhood Land Trust
LA Food Policy Council
LA Kitchen
Public Counsel
Self Help Graphics & Art
St. Francis Center
Team Friday
TRUST South LA
Urban & Environmental Policy Institute
Get involved!
We are so thankful for all our supporters in 2015. LURN strives to
be an organization that forges new solutions to address challenges facing
low-income residents in cities, and we’re so grateful to all the, foundations
and major donors that contributed to our work:
US Department of Agriculture (NIFA)
California Community Foundation
Citi Community Development
Durfee Foundation
California Freshworks (FEMI-LA) Fund
Oscar Mayer Foundation
Aileen Getty Foundation
PG&E
Department of Cultural Affairs and the Center for Cultural Innovation
Sheppard Mullin
Hitzke Development Corporation
Pobladores Fund at the Liberty Hill Foundation
Thelma Pearl Howard Foundation
To continue this work, we need the support of a strong base of donors who
believe that change happens by all of us working together.
If you’d like to donate to LURN, please visit www.LURNetwork.org.