The Coro Southern California Fellows Class of 2002, which graduated May 29 in a ceremony at City Club on Bunker Hill in Los Angeles, conducted individual projects that focused on the study of civic engagement in Los Angeles:

• Noel Hacegaba and Dileepan Sivapathasundaram, the SBC Pacific Bell Coro Fellow, were responsible for the Youth In Leadership (YIL) project in the Boyle Heights and Watts areas where they developed and facilitated a curriculum for three successive sessions focused on group process, community assessment, interview techniques and civics in each community. Noel and Dileepan established relationships with community organizations, government agencies, community leaders and residents, and attended neighborhood council and other community meetings to tailor the curriculum to each community.
• Maria Camacho and Judy Schwartz created the Pacoima Beautiful Youth Environmentalist Group Structural and Programmatic Model (PBYES) for a youth environmentalist group which will be administered through Pacoima Beautiful. Maria and Judy outlined group structures and detailed group activities, and assembled a binder with information on potential funding sources, contacts and interviews for the group, possible youth internship opportunities, environmental education opportunities for students, and leadership training for the model coordinator and students. Maria and Judy encouraged the students to positively change their community through leadership skills and environmental education. This group will become a permanent part of the Pacoima Beautiful organization in Summer, 2002.
• Michael Levin, the Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. Coro Fellow, developed Leadership, Empowerment, Access and Dedication (LEAD LA), a leadership curriculum for the City of Los Angeles' anti-gang internships for at-risk youth in the Boyle Heights/East Los Angeles community. Michael identified key stakeholders for implementation of the leadership training module in future anti-gang initiatives, and focused his efforts on the long-term institutionalization of this curriculum rather than short-term implementation in order to sustain LEAD LA.
• Nnenna Ozobia created the Hyde Park Latino Outreach Program using the newly formed Park Mesa Heights Community Council in Hyde Park as an avenue to improve the line of communication between stakeholders in the community, and to increase knowledge about the purpose of the Council and its goals. Nnenna facilitated meetings to enable community involvement in outreach planning and to foster dialogue about general community concerns, and linked community members with resources and organizations to help future outreach.
• Salvador Sanchez created the Pico-Union Business Support Program (PUBSP) to assist potential and existing business owners in the Pico-Union community in obtaining the licenses or permits required in Los Angeles to conduct business, in learning basic bookkeeping procedures and in compiling business plans. The PUBSP was formulated to teach basic skills needed to run a business, from marketing to taxation. Salvador's seminars included feasibility studies of business plans, discussions of industries & markets, growth plans, marketing plans and financial plans. Many of the existing businesses in this area lack the necessary permits and licenses required by Los Angeles and the knowledge of what-to-do and how-to-do-it in business, which contributes to the large turnover rate of local businesses.
• Alejandra Refugio Sotelo, The Gas Company Coro Fellow, created the Pico-Union United project to assist the organization, Homies Unidos, by providing job training and development skills for at-risk youth in the Pico-Union community, while focusing on the long-term goal of having "Homies" candidates hired to jobs via Mayor Hahn’s Anti-Gang Inititative. Homies Unidos is neutral ground for gang members from over 37 gangs in the Pico- Union area to congregate via art classes; the organization helps "Homies" members to identify their strengths while the organization learns which services to provide to its community.
• Maurice Turner, The Boeing Company Coro Fellow, created the Youth Leadership Training Module in Watts, a program designed for high school youth to acquire leadership skills. The module contained a four-part series in Goal Setting & Achievement, Conflict Resolution, Consensus Building and Ethics, with an emphasis on cultural sensitivity and decision-making to combine the four areas. Over 250 youth, of which approximately 40 eligible to receive training, were in attendance at these sessions. Additionally, the module will be phased in as a part of the Saturday Science Academy II at Drew Medical University.
• Jih-Fang "Jenny" Yang, the S. Mark Taper Foundation Coro Fellow, created the Organizing for Hyde Park Commercial Redevelopment project which focused on membership recruitment, marketing and organizational development for the Hyde Park Crenshaw Merchant & Property Owner Association. Jenny trained board members and provided resources on commercial revitalization, facilitated strategic planning and created a communications strategy that included media messages, letterhead, a member recruitment brochure and a newsletter template. Jenny also secured nearly $10,000 from a major bank for a six-month membership recruitment campaign, connected the Association with experts on commercial revitalization, and identified an editor for future newsletter production.