If you want to understand how power works in the United States, don’t just look at Congress. Look at neighbors facing eviction. A family shattered by an ICE raid. A trans youth turned away from care. The front lines of justice–and injustice–are local.
In Los Angeles, we feel this acutely. The housing crisis deepens, as rents continue to climb, while encampments are criminalized, providing no sustainable solutions. The federal government sent in the National Guard, hijacking protests and enacting violence against our neighbors. ICE raids continue tearing through our communities. Trans and gender-expansive folks face increasing harassment and institutional neglect. These systems are functioning exactly as they were designed.
We must take it upon ourselves to protect each other, to reimagine and restructure the systems destroying our communities.
That’s the work of the Dr. Beatriz María Solís Policy Institute (SPI) Local program. And today, we’re proud to introduce the 2025 SPI Local Teams, who are learning to craft bold, community-driven policy in neighborhoods across LA County.
Meet the teams:
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Crimmigration Systems
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Housing Security
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Transgender, Gender-Variant, and Intersex (TGI) Wellness & Justice
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San Gabriel Valley TGI Wellness & Justice
These teams are made up of advocates who live and organize in the communities they serve–they are deeply rooted, community bound, and uncompromising in their vision for justice.
For over two decades, SPI has trained nearly 700 fellows to create the change that they want to see for their own communities.. Local work is necessary for national change. It’s the blueprint. What gets passed in a city council meeting today shapes what becomes possible in Sacramento–or even Washington–tomorrow.
This new SPI Local class isn’t waiting for permission, they’re learning to respond to what our communities need with policy grounded in care, resilience, and imagination.