March 18, 2022
The Southeast Los Angeles (SELA) Collaborative has partnered with Optimum Seismic, Inc. to complete a video series highlighting the important mission of local non-profit organizations since 2020.
“I love this cooperative effort of nonprofit and private sectors to highlight the work of the SELA Collaborative, a key organization in my district,” said California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon. “We need this kind of synergy to boost community engagement. Thanks to SELA Collaborative for their endless commitment to community. Thanks to Optimum Seismic for getting the word out.”.
The recently completed series of videos entitled Empowering Our Communities is helping increase public understanding of and community support for important work being done by the non-profits organizations which make up the SELA Collaborative.
The video series features SELA Collaborative’s 12 member organizations, according to Dr. Wilma Franco, Executive Director of the SELA Collaborative. The SELA team worked with the non-profits to develop Facebook Live scripts and questions for guests on the individual video programs. Each organization’s key messages were included in its video and promoted on social media postings.
“We greatly appreciate the generous support and deep commitment shown to the SELA community by Optimum Seismic Co-Founder Ali Sahabi by sponsoring this video series,” says Dr. Franco. “Optimum Seismic’s actions are a model that other businesses can follow to help strengthen our local communities.”
“It’s very important that business and government leaders come together to support non-profit organizations in the local community,” says Sahabi. “These groups do a great amount of good work for people in our community, and support from local businesses and government agencies can enable them to do so much more.”
“The SELA Collaborative’s efforts are focused on strengthening the nonprofit sector and increasing civic engagement in SELA as a region,” stated Sahabi. “With the pandemic the network shifted its work to support the community and to develop a regional COVID-19 recovery plan that prioritizes the region’s recovery and future prosperity.”
“Having experienced decades of underinvestment and disinvestment, the recovery of this region will be of critical importance not only for the SELA communities but for the economic prosperity of Los Angeles County,” states the organization’s recently released policy document called the SELA Agenda.
The Agenda identified eight major policy areas: education; environmental justice; economic recovery; health care; housing; nonprofit sector; civic engagement; and regional advocacy.
Videos have been produced on the following non-profit organizations: SELA Collaborative; Alliance for a Better Community; AltaMed Health Services; Consejo De Federaciones Mexicanas; East Los Angeles College; East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice; Families in School; First 5 LA; Hub Cities Consortium; Human Services Association; Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs; Southeast Community Development Corporation; and The YMCA.
Episodes produced during the series include:
The videos can be viewed at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FrmVfm7i7w&list=PLp2DykVS7BIULkH7RUsiQwIx4dhiTLIzH
About Southeast Los Angeles (SELA) Collaborative
The Southeast Los Angeles (SELA) Collaborative is a network of organizations working together to strengthen the capacity of the nonprofit sector and increase civic engagement in Southeast LA. Founded in 2011 by eleven core organizations, the Collaborative seeks to revitalize the communities of Bell, Bell Gardens, Cudahy, Florence-Firestone, Huntington Park, Lynwood, Maywood, South Gate, Vernon, and Walnut Park. Community voice is central to the work of SELA. Member organizations, which have long histories of service and advocacy in the region, understand SELA must collaborate with community members to create lasting, authentic change in Southeast LA’s communities.
About Optimum Seismic
The Optimum Seismic team has been making California cities safer since 1984 by providing full-service earthquake engineering, steel fabrication and construction services for multifamily residential, commercial and industrial buildings. With more than 3,500 earthquake retrofit and renovation projects completed, Optimum Seismic’s work includes soft-story multifamily apartments, unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings and tilt-up, non-ductile concrete and steel moment frame buildings. To arrange a complimentary assessment of your building’s earthquake resilience, contact Optimum Seismic at (833) 978-7664 or visit optimumseismic.com.
