Inspiring Growth, New Skills, and Innovation for Transitional-Age Empowerment
IGNITE PROGRAM OVERVIEW
The Los Angeles Urban League IGNITE Program provides workforce training, job placement, and life skills development for foster youth ages 16–24. We equip participants with the tools and confidence to successfully transition into the workforce and independent adulthood. Our goal is to close opportunity gaps for foster youth by delivering real-world training, career opportunities, and essential life skills that build long-term self-sufficiency.
Youth aging out of foster care often face housing instability, unemployment, and lack of support. Our program creates a bridge to opportunity—ensuring no young person is left behind.
Program Objectives
The program aims to:
- Bridge the gap between foster care and adulthood by providing practical, hands-on workforce training.
- Offer personalized job placement support to ensure long-term career success.
- Develop essential life skills to foster confidence, resilience, and
independence.
Program Components
Workforce Training
Participants engage in industry-recognized training programs tailored to high-growth sectors such as healthcare, construction, and entertainment.
Training includes:
- Career exploration and goal setting
- Resume building and interview preparation
- Digital literacy and job readiness workshops
- On-the-job training and internships
Job Placement Services
The program maintains strong partnerships with local employers and workforce agencies to:
- Match youth with paid internships, apprenticeships, and full-time employment opportunities
- Provide individualized employment counseling and career coaching
- Monitor job performance and offer post-placement support for retention and advancement
Life Skills Development
Recognizing that employment success is tied to overall well-being, the program integrates life skills workshops that cover:
- Financial literacy (budgeting, saving, credit)
- Time management and organizational skills
- Effective communication and conflict resolution
- Housing navigation and community resource referrals
- Mental health awareness and self-care strategies
Life Skills Academy
The She Ready Foundation Life Skills Academy helps foster youth not just survive—but thrive. By giving them the
skills to manage life, we empower them to own their future.
OVERVIEW
Empowering Foster Youth with the Tools for Life
The She Ready Foundation Life Skills Academy is a dynamic initiative created to equip youth transitioning out of foster care with the practical tools, knowledge, and confidence they need to thrive in the real world. Spearheaded by actress and advocate Tiffany Haddish, the Academy is rooted in the belief that every young person deserves the opportunity to succeed—regardless of their background.
Life Skills Academy goes beyond traditional education by teaching the essential, everyday skills not always covered in school. Through hands-on workshops, mentorship, and community engagement, participants gain the knowledge and confidence to navigate adulthood with independence and resilience.
Core Focus Areas
- Financial Literacy
- Budgeting, banking, credit building, and financial planning
- Independent Living
- Cooking, cleaning, laundry, housing readiness, and time management
- Communication & Self-Advocacy
- Conflict resolution, professional communication, and emotional intelligence
- Career & College Prep
- Resume writing, job applications, interview skills, and college readiness
- Mental Wellness
- Stress management, self-care, and access to therapy and support
networks
Backstage Careers
In 2019, the Urban League launched Backstage Careers, a workforce development program aimed at closing the
diversity gap in behind-the-scenes, production-oriented careers in the burgeoning fields of TV, film, live events, and music. A team of Hollywood professionals, veteran tradespeople, music producers, and college professors teach the technical or “hard skills” necessary to start a career in these industries.
OVERVIEW
We combine this technical training with the Urban League’s “soft skills” training, exposing our 18 to 30 year-old trainees to industry pathways, work norms, guest speakers and mentors. Simultaneously, LAUL provides supportive services to trainees to enable them to meet their daily needs while progressing through 8-16 weeks of training. Upon graduation, we help needy students pay their first year’s union dues, and place trainees in apprenticeships, full time jobs and contract gigs to pursue their careers.
Program participants are provided mentoring, training and hiring relationships with partners including Amazon Prime Video, Lionsgate Entertainment, Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad Productions, the Handy Foundation, Los Angeles City College, Netflix, the Grammy Museum Foundation, and our newest partner, the state-of-the-art 1500 Sound Academy in Inglewood, where our first cohort of trainees learned multiple aspects of the music industry from Grammyaward winning artists, producers and sound engineers.
Construction Career Academy
The Los Angeles Urban League works in partnership with SoCal Gas, the Southern California Building Trades and
other construction trades, and utility unions to increase minority access to apprenticeship programs and to make
real the promise of a construction, mechanical, technical and/or engineering career for Los Angeles residents who
are often shut out of such opportunities.
OVERVIEW
- Recruit underemployed, unemployed or hard to employ young adults age 18+.
- JT Mitchell Academy provides math exam prep, soft and hard skill training opportunities for 8 hrs./week (Two evenings + Sat. mornings) for 10 weeks.
- Graduates will receive union apprenticeship opportunities from our employing partners.
- Union mentors, corporate partners and site visits will be incorporated into the experience.
HIGHLIGHTS AND MILESTONES
- Successfully launched Virtual CCA Class Sessions
- 90% passed SoCal Gas Exam
- 88% Construction Union Exam Pass rate; 30% improvement in Construction Math in Pre vs Post Assessment
- 81% job placement rate
- Average annual salary increase = $68,000
- LAUL Awarded thousands in scholarships in support of student exams fees, tools, uniforms/clothing, work boots, and transportation
Medical Assistant Certification Program
In partnership with UCLA Health, the Urban League’s Medical Assistant Certification program offers trainees – ages 18 and up – the opportunity to become certified Medical Assistants in 12 months, and guaranteed job placement at one of UCLA’s nine hospitals and clinical sites. In addition, all Medical Assistants receive national certification as phlebotomists, and eligibility for the University Professional and Technical Employees union.
OVERVIEW
- The four-quarter program includes 68 units of course work and 200 hours of clinical internship hours.
- Course of study prepares students for the National Center for Competency Testing (NCCT) National Certified Medical Assistants (NCMA) exam.
- Curriculum is reviewed and approved by an advisory board comprised of practitioners in the field, industry leaders and UCLA physicians, nurses and administrators from UCLA academic departments.
HIGHLIGHTS AND MILESTONES
- MA Certification: The five-year average exam passage rate for 2018 to 2022 is 100%.
- Retention: The five-year average program retention rate from 2018 to 2022 is 87%.
- Job Placement: The five-year average job placement rate from 2018 to 2022 is 92.55%.
- Average annual salary increase = $58,364
- LAUL Awarded thousands in scholarships in support of student exams fees, tools, uniforms/clothing, work boots, and transportation
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