Blog: You showed up for kids!

Last Tuesday, you made clear that children matter in this election. On May 15,  The Children’s Partnership, Children’s Defense Fund-California, and The Chronicle of Social Change co-hosted “Building Our Future: A Forum on Children with California’s Gubernatorial Candidates,” a nonpartisan event.* Straight from work or school, with babies in their arms, or grandma by their side, more than 600 people came to Los Angeles Trade Technical College to hear from candidates John Chiang, Delaine Eastin and Antonio Villaraigosa. This forum has been the only event to exclusively focus on issues impacting children and families in California.  

To read more about the forum and what candidates discussed, scroll through the Twitter hashtag: #BuildingOurFuture2018 and visit The Chronicle of Social Change, as well as our media partners, LA School Report, Los Angeles Daily News, and Witness LA. A video of the forum, captured by LA School Report and The 74, is also available.

For us, the highlight of the evening were our youth representatives- ranging in age from 11 to 21 years old- who raised questions about youth justice, technology, and how the candidates will be held accountable in their work for kids.

Thank you to Eric Dory & Jacqueline Martinez from Children’s Defense Fund-CA, Nathaniel Belteton from Community Coalition South LA, Anthony Ramirez from Teens Exploring Technology, Gloria Ramos from Youth Justice Coalition, and Ricardo Ortega from California Youth Connection. The event was truly a collaborative effort not possible without the support of our co-hosts, event partners, and community partners. Each recognizing the importance of children in our elections.

Help us keep the focus on children throughout this election and use our recently released voter guide: Building California’s Future: A Voter Guide to Championing Policies that Improve the Lives of California’s Children. We hope this guide will help you identify candidates who understand the challenges facing children and families, and who commit to taking action to level the playing field for all of California’s children. You can check your voting status at sos.ca.gov for the upcoming June 5 primary!

As we look to Primary Day on June 5 and Election Day on November 6, we look forward to building on our forum and staying in touch on upcoming civic engagement trainings, future debate watch parties, and new tools and resources to help us all speak up for kids this election. Thank you for your contributions to #BuildingOurFuture2018 and lending your voice and vote for kids!

*The format of the forum was designed with the nonprofit, non-partisan status of each of the host organizations in mind. All candidates were given equal time to share their perspectives and policy ideas on some of the most important issues facing children in California. Questions were drawn from a range of topics covered in a questionnaire that was previously sent to candidates. 

To our event co-hosts and event partners, media and community partners:

• Co-Hosts: Pritzker Foster Care Initiative, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles Trade–Technical College and the Alliance for a Better Community
• Event Partners: Southern California Grantmakers, Breaking Barriers, California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, GRACE and Liberty Hill Foundation.
• Media Partners: L.A. School Report and Los Angeles Daily News
• Community Partners: The RightWay Foundation, SHIELDS for Families, United Friends of the Children, CASA of Los Angeles – Court Appointed Special Advocates, Community Coalition, Youth Justice Coalition, the Association of Community Human Service Agencies, the California Alliance of Child and Family Services, California Youth Connection, Teens Exploring Technology, AltaMed Health Services, Latino Coalition of Los Angeles, California Coverage and Health Initiatives, California Immigrant Policy Center, The Village Nation, Communities In Schools, Los Angeles African American Women Political Action Committee, Community Health Councils, Anti-Recidivism Coalition, DAR Public Health Consulting and many others who joined us.