Supporters
Our Partners
Our partners are a vital part of the LA’s BEST community. We are grateful to all partners for their generous donations, which allows us to support students holistically in the wake of the pandemic and beyond. We would like to thank a few partners in particular:
Thank you, Great Public Schools Now (GPSN), for your continued generous support, including funding supplies and field trips for students during the summer of 2022. These programs and experiences brought the students much-needed joy and access to extraordinary opportunities. Students learned about animals at the LA Zoo and the Aquarium of the Pacific, visited the Getty Museum and King Gillette Ranch and attended a screening of Buzz Lightyear at the historic El Capitan Theater.
Thank you, Green Foundation, for providing us with general operating support at a time when flexible funding was needed most. The flexibility enabled us to invest in efforts that will benefit our students, families, schools, and communities as we enter a post-COVID phase.
Thank you, ZipRecruiter, for partnering with us over the last six years. By donating the company’s services, ZipRecruiter helped LA’s BEST to recruit qualified individuals. And, ZipRecruiter has generously donated annually to help LA’s BEST continue its important work and employees from ZipRecruiter have volunteered their time inspiring students.
Alumni Spotlight
Our alumni are part of the LA’s BEST community forever. In 2021, LA’s BEST awarded an Alumni Scholarship to Carlos Alfaro to support his educational goals. Carlos attended LA’s BEST, then later worked for LA’s BEST while attending college at California State University, Dominguez Hills. There, Carlos earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology – with honors!
Carlos has big plans for helping his community. First, he wants to earn a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology: Marriage and Family Therapy. After that, Carlos wants to teach psychology courses, and then continue his education ever further, getting a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. His ultimate goal is to “work for the Los Angeles County to provide psychological resources for low-income minorities and families. Being able to offer mental health resources for both adults and minors in the community I grew up in… would put me in a position where I can use the fundamentals, personal experiences, and apply that knowledge into growing future generations.”
Fundraising Events
It was wonderful to return to in-person events, where the community’s love could truly be felt. Thank you to our sponsors and to everyone who attended!
In November 2021, Locally Grown: A Garden Party was a night filled with garden-infused cocktails, hors d’oeuvres personally created by local noteworthy chefs and a foodie-inspired auction in Neal Fraser and Amy Knoll Fraser’s beautiful garden at Redbird. This fundraiser gave us a chance to be together, in person, for one of the first times since the pandemic, and the joy was palpable as new and old friends mixed and mingled.
At the Shine Bright fundraising event in May 2022, we dined, danced and celebrated the impact of our work at the Banc of California Stadium. It was an exquisite and inspiring evening of fundraising and celebration under the stars. The evening dazzled all our guests as we honored our shining stars Chris Dusseault, Christine Simmons and Vanessa Diaz Lark. The sparkly, longtime supporter and previous host of Good Day LA, Michaela Pereira was again our entertaining host for the event’s cocktail reception, dinner, awards, and entertainment by Alexander 23 and Emi Secrest.
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