National Convening Program Books 2014 YEO National Convening Program Book | Page 31

SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2014

31

Ellen Pais

Alberto Retana
Community Coalition
Alberto Retana’s core values center on the notion that people, love,
and compassion coupled with organized power, strategy, and vision
have the potential to change society. As executive vice president of
the Community Coalition, Retana leads the coalition’s civic engagement
efforts. He directly organizes 30,000 African American and Latino voters
of south Los Angeles in various campaigns to transform neighborhoods and
empower people. Retana is dedicated to advancing solidarity among south LA’s African
American and Latino residents. Prior to his work at the Community Coalition, Retana worked
for the Obama administration in the US Department of Education as director of community
outreach. During his time in DC, Retana organized the department’s first National Youth Summit
and worked with thousands of community leaders across the country to turn around the nation’s
education “push-out” crisis. Retana is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles
with a degree in political science.

4:05 PM – 4:50 PM

Empowering and Educating Communities Policy Council
Breakout Series
YEOs should divide by level of office to discuss the priority issues from this session, and to create
the annual YEO agenda for this Policy Council.
• State Level (Malibu & Santa Monica Rooms)
• Local Level (Promenade Room)
• Local Level (Palisades Room)
• School Board (Catalina Room)

Stay connected: Keep the #YEOmentum going with @YEONetwork

DETAILED AGENDA

Los Angeles Education Partnership
Ellen Pais became president & CEO of Los Angeles Education Partnership
(LAEP) in January 2012, after seven years as senior director of LAEP’s
Connecting Communities programs. She has 25 years of experience
in community building, community relations and the law. Pais was the
driving force behind LAEP’s expansion and development of community
collaboratives and community-school partnerships, and she currently sits on the
steering committee of the National Coalition for Community Schools. Before joining LAEP, she
was CEO of Planned Parenthood of Pasadena. As a lifelong community activist, she has facilitated
relationships and coordinated resources between communities and nonprofit organizations
with a particular emphasis on educational equity. She earned a JD from American University’s
Washington College of Law and a BA from UC Berkeley.