May Newsletter 2024
Presenting the California Work & Family Coalition 2024 - 2029 Strategic Plan!
We’re proud to announce that the Coalition's 2024-2029 Strategic Plan is final! Please review it here. This was an incredible collective effort that involved Coalition members, leaders, staff, and national and state partners as well as allies and new connections. Maya Paley with Cities & People led the effort with the strategic planning committee. Our new plan features goals focused on expanding access to paid leave, building the Coalition for long-term sustainability, and reaching new communities and organizations.
Thank you to all who participated!
Thank You for Making Advocacy Day 2024 a Success!
On May 7th, 50 members of the California Work & Family Coalition took part in a virtual, statewide advocacy day to educate their legislators on how Coalition priority bills will support their communities. Coalition staff got positive feedback on how easy they made it for people new to advocacy to participate for the first time.
Thanks to member and partner advocacy, Coalition 2024 legislative priority bills are moving forward:
SB 1090 (Durazo) Early Application for PFL and DI Benefits: Moved from the Senate Floor to the Assembly
AB 2499 (Schiavo): Strengthening Safe Leave: Moved from the Assembly Floor to the Senate
AB 2901 (Aguiar-Curry): Pregnancy Leave for Educators: Moved from the Assembly Floor to the Senate
AB 518 (Wicks): Paid Family Leave for Chosen Family: Still on Senate Floor
The Evidence for Change Fellowship Ends on a High Note
The California Work & Family Coalition closed out our data-focused fellowship from Stanford University’s Impact Labs in Palo Alto this month. The Coalition - along with eight California-based organizations - was chosen to take part in the Evidence for Change fellowship in order to enhance our use of data to strengthen our impact.
Natasha Castro, Coalition Education and Outreach Organizer, spoke on a panel about how the Coalition is instituting data collection and a learning culture through the fellowship.
“It was great to be able to exchange ideas and learn how we can prioritize learning and the use of data in our advocacy and organizing efforts,” she said.
Coalition staff got great ideas and tools from the fellowship on how to integrate data collection in our work. We'll be sharing what we learned with members and partners in upcoming statewide convenings.
Photo Left: Natasha Speaking on Panel with Coalition for Responsible Community Development and the Anti-Recidivism Coalition.
Photo Right: The California Work & Family Coalition Staff with Marisa Arrona, Evidence for Change Mentor.
Young California Workers Learn Their Rights
The Coalition collaborated with The UCLA Labor Center on a training focused on young workers in California on May 15th. The training covered wage and hour, scheduling, paid sick leave, disability and Paid Family Leave and how to identify and speak up about wage theft. The training was well-attended and participants had a lot of great questions.
For more information or to get involved in upcoming trainings, reach out to Jasmine Amian, Coalition Education & Training Manager, at jasmine.amian@workfamilyca.org
Young Worker Training and Northern California Ice Cream Workers Who Attended the Training to Learn Their Rights
