The SDGs in L.A. Project is a Young Initiative partnership with the L.A. Mayor’s office. We create student Task Forces that work under city leadership with faculty guidance. The Task Forces are empowered to use the SDGs as a tool to help envision fresh policy approaches to seemingly intractable local problems.

Truth-in-Los Angeles

Recommendations on how to initiate a truth and accountability process and confront patterns of racial injustice in Los Angeles 

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Measuring Gender Equity in Cities: An Intersectional Set of Proposed Indicators

Students worked with the Mayor's Office to propose a set of indicators to measure gender equity in cities. Their final report encourages cities to look “beyond the gender binary” to incorporate sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression to create a more gender inclusive set of data that measures progress on equity.

The Spring 2021 Task Force focused on SDG5: Achieve gender...

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What are Community Development Block Grants (CDBG)?

The City of Los Angeles (LA) Mayor’s Office of International Affairs assigned a team of seven students to map the past seven years’ worth of projects funded by the Community Development Block Grant Entitlement Program. Stephanie Oyolu ‘22 represented Occidental College and reported to the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office for International Affairs

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Healthy Indoor Environment

The City of Los Angeles (LA) Mayor’s Office of International Affairs assigned a team of seven students to analyze types of indoor air quality and energy efficiency solutions that can be supported by city programs with strong ROI and effective reduction of pollutants and emissions. Julia Eubanks ’22, Oli Vorster ’22, and Nancy Zhou ’22 represented Occidental College and reported to the Los Angeles...

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Biodiversity in Los Angeles

The City of Los Angeles (LA) Mayor’s Office of International Affairs assigned a team of eight students to help enhance the LA City Biodiversity Index to determine current industry benchmarks, create key recommendations for the next report revision, and provide insights for further research. Jackson Caudle ’21, Hope Hendry ’21, McClaran Shirley ’22, Maggie Smart- McCabe ’20, and Snigdha Suvarna ’20...

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Understanding the Linkages Between Student Housing Insecurity and Educational Outcomes

The City of Los Angeles (LA) Mayor’s Office of International Affairs assigned a team of six students to conduct a macroanalysis of the determinants of intergenerational poverty with a focus on the relationship between homeless students’ environment and their educational outcomes. Jack Fernandes ‘20, Micah Kirscher ‘20, Wafa Abedin ‘21, Caroline Diamond ‘22, and Kyler Parris ‘22 represented...

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Disaggregating LGBTQIA+ Data

The City of Los Angeles (LA) Mayor’s Office of International Affairs assigned a team of six students to draw on the best practices of other cities and new data sources to improve measures of impact, inclusion, and representation of LGBTQIA+ Angelenos in city services. John Hammer ‘21 and Alejo Maggini ‘22 represented Occidental College and reported to the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office for...

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