Por JC Montenegro, PhD –

(Los Angeles, California) – On April 12, 2025, more than 100 young people from across Los Angeles gathered at the Salesian Family Youth Center for a day of dialogue, reflection, and vision-setting. Centered around the theme “We Are the Now,” the Youth Summit created a space where participants shared personal stories and addressed the challenges they face, including mental health, educational inequity, and community safety. Through small group discussions and collective input, the youth developed a document outlining their key concerns, proposed solutions, and clear actionable priorities rooted in lived experience.

Following the Youth Summit, JC Montenegro and Luis Chacon joined the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce on their advocacy trip to Sacramento. They presented the youth document developed during the summit. During meetings with nearly a dozen members of the State Assembly and Senator Lola Smallwood Cuevas, they highlighted key issues such as mental health support, career education, neighborhood safety, affordable housing, and youth leadership. These discussions aimed to align the concerns raised by the youth with current state legislation, emphasizing the importance of incorporating youth perspectives into policymaking.​

This collaboration with the Chamber provided a platform to amplify the messages from the summit, ensuring that the insights and solutions proposed by the youth were heard by state leaders. The engagement in Sacramento served as a continuation of the conversations initiated at the summit, demonstrating a commitment to translating youth-driven ideas into actionable policy discussions. By bringing these priorities to the Capitol, the delegation underscored the readiness of young people to contribute meaningfully to shaping their communities.​