CREATING CHANGE THROUGH
SOCIAL INNOVATION

Kern High School District’s Regional Occupational Center (ROC) and Career Technical Education Center (CTEC) are more than classrooms and workshops; they are incubators of opportunity. With 38 programs spanning construction, healthcare, manufacturing, and technology, these centers prepare the next generation for high-demand careers.

Looking back on how much we’ve grown, I am reminded that transformation does not come all at once: it comes in layers, in moments of bravery, and when we are open to reimagining how we will work together.

Future-proofing communities is the starting point for future-proofing the economy. When local systems are adaptive, equitable, and interconnected, they generate the talent, trust, and innovation needed for shared prosperity.

When you ask a young person what economic empowerment really means, they’re not talking about GDP or policy frameworks. They’re talking about choice and being able to imagine a future that isn’t predetermined by zip code, financial status, or family background. They’re talking about seeing themselves in the opportunities being offered, and belonging to the future they’re being asked to build.

Picture this: suicide rates among young Black men in California have surged 22%. First-gen college students face crushing isolation. 52% of Gen Z workers fear being replaced by AI.

In this latest episode of Lead the Shift, I sit with Derek Steele, Executive Director of the Social Justice Learning Institute, to reflect on what it means to future-proof our communities.

Too often, organizations treat transformation as the work of a single department or leader. At LeadersUp, we see it differently. Transformation is a discipline that we practice both internally with our team and externally in our role as an intermediary across the state of California.

At LeadersUp, Shared Power begins with the young people we serve and our broader community; it’s about expanding economic opportunities and voices to people who have historically been left behind. For young people, Shared Power means having the power to shape their future, access equal opportunities, and create a life embodying their purpose and potential. This outside-in lens informs how we design our culture and how we show up every day. 

During a recent interview, a young Angeleno was asked what economic empowerment meant to her. She said, “For me, it’s being able to imagine a future where I don’t have to choose between paying rent and going to school.” Her words are a stark reminder that data points alone cannot capture the lived experiences and the urgency of the challenges young people face today.

I am honored to host Lead the Shift, part of our new newsletter and interview series, where we speak plainly about the truth of this moment: young people are not simply inheriting the future, they are creating it.

LA is on the verge of something audacious—and this moment won’t wait. The city’s first-ever Economic Empowerment Policy Agenda is about to drop. As someone who loves building things (LEGO projects off the clock, cross-sector momentum at work), this is the kind of movement that gets creative minds fired up—because we’re not just imagining change, we’re assembling it, one bold idea at a time.

Remember the last time someone asked you to reimagine your entire community's economy? Neither did we. Then we met our Equity Unleashed Fellows. LeadersUp built the Equity Unleashed platform in response to research from the Brookings Institution, which noted that only a few young adults feel empowered to create economic change. We have spent several years researching, convening, and developing ways to enrich the lives of young adults, fostering their own economic growth. W