Lissett Lazo, SYOA Alumni '07 and Community Rights Organizer, reflects on the highlights and breakthroughs of this year's Summer Youth Organizing Academy class. She looks back to her own experience as a SYOA student as a pivotal point in her own growth and transformation as an organizer and young Salvadoreña, Hondureña, Nucaraguense womyn.

30/10 will gut the bus system, the backbone of public transit in LA. Read the BRU's letter to congress memebers asking them for a no vote to reject Mayor Villaraigosa's 30/10 initiative.

While transportation advocates struggle in Washington to derail the priorities that have shaped transit spending for the last 50 years, it is also important to understand how federal funding is only the first part of the transit pie.

Tri-State Transportation Campaign is a non-profit policy and advocacy organization that works for a more balanced and sustainable transportation network in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut metro region. 

Over the last 15 years, our advocacy has resulted in greater investment for transit, cycling and walking projects in the region. In that time we have learned many lessons about this work, but none comes up time and time again like the importance of tackling state transportation reform.  

Junior Summer Youth Organizing Academy, participant Lamont Harrell, writes about his reasons for coming back to the junior SYOA Program.Hi my name Lamont Harrell and I'm in Junior SYOA . I was in SYOA last year but I decided to come back for 3 reasons. Reason 1: I wanted to learn more about campaigns and I like to organize.

Durante los últimos 4 semanas he organizado para educar y recaudar apoyo sobre el proyecto de carril solo para autobuses de la calle Wilshire.

The Community Rights Campaign has created a new map to track the geographical areas and the break down of the race and gender composition of students that have received Daytime Curfew "Truancy" Tickets under the Los Angeles Municipal Code 45.04. This map is an important tool in making the legal case that "truancy" tickets violate the civil and educational rights of the 90% Black and Latino students that attend LAUSD schools....

Citing lower ridership and civil rights violations after 20 years and $8 billion spent on Metro Rail, the Bus Riders Union renews call for bus-centered, low-cost transit system in LA County.

This new publication lays out 10 principles for creating sustainable cities. Urbanist Jan Gehl and Walter Hook, Executive Director of the Institute of Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) compile the main qualities of livable cities, citing examples from around the world in which transit has been integrated into urban design.

Summer Youth Organizing Academy participant, Damien Romero, shares his lessons and experiences of organizing with the Community Rights Campaign for the first time. "Organizing for the first time was a very moving experience. Even though I was a bit nervous to be placed into conversation with strangers, the fact that I was able to carry them out was very reassuring as the day went on...."

Karla Chavez is a member and volunteer for the Community Rights Campaign.  She is our volunteer photographer for the Summer Youth Organizing Academy.  She blogs about her role in helping build a movement to end the criminalization of our people and the importance of documenting our work through photography.