The Leadership Action Team (LAT) Initiative is the service learning component of the 10-month IMPACT program, our signature leadership development program.
IMPACT class members are deployed to work in teams on projects drawn from community-based nonprofit organizations that are serving a moderate- to low-income or traditionally under-represented community.
These nonprofits benefit from the help and expertise of LEAD class members as they assist with projects such as creating marketing, business or strategic plans. By harnessing the talents, energies and resources of its class members, LEAD can make substantive, positive changes in agencies that are “on the ground” and impacting San Diego’s underserved communities in a meaningful way. Oftentimes, LEAD participants stay involved with their LAT partner agency in a volunteer or board member capacity long after their project concludes.
Since 2003, IMPACT class members have worked with nearly 50 local nonprofit organizations in four thematic areas of interest. LEAD estimates that the time spent on these projects equates to approximately $500,000 investment in the community.
The following are the partner agencies selected for the 2012 IMPACT class:
Community HousingWorks helps people and neighborhoods move up in the world by providing a full range of housing options combined with training and support. Their LAT team will undertake a significant analysis and make recommendations to their board regarding implementing a fitness and nutrition program at each of their residential facilities.
Just in Time for Foster Youth provides transitioning foster youth with opportunities for self-sufficiency through emergency support, essential resources, and caring personal guidance at critical junctures on their path to independence. Their LAT team will undertake a comprehensive communications audit of marketing materials and vehicles, will create a set of recommendations to enhance organization’s communications and effectiveness, and suggest strategies to develop the necessary resources to support and sustain those recommendations in the future.
Postpartum Health Alliance (PHA) is dedicated to raising awareness about postpartum emotional disorders and providing support and treatment referrals to women who are struggling with them. PHA has identified low-income women in underrepresented and underserved communities who are acutely vulnerable to postpartum disorders as a population in chronic need for services. Their team will develop a business plan outlining its transition from a volunteer-run organization to a sustainable organization that includes permanent paid staff.
Reality Changers provides inner-city youth from disadvantaged backgrounds with the resources to become first generation college students by supplying academic support, financial assistance, and leadership training. Their team will develop a targeted marketing strategy and plan for social enterprise purposes to expand the organization’s brand of the College Apps Academy which helps students navigate the college application process.
San DiegoZoo Global is a conservation, education and recreation organization dedicated to the reproduction, protection and exhibition of animals, plants and their habitats. Their LAT team will develop a strategic marketing plan to diversify their high-end civic and community ambassadors to young professionals between the ages of 25 and 45, who can follow in the footsteps of the current support base.
South Bay Community Services (SBCS) provide children, adolescence, and families with services that reinforce the family’s role in our community and assist individuals to aspire realistically to lives of self-fulfillment. Their LAT team will consult with SBCS on for-profit business practices, including development, marketing and management in an effort to enhance and expand its current social enterprises. 
