LA Chinatown CLT Fall Newsletter 2024
Dear LA Chinatown Community Members and Supporters,
We hope everyone is enjoying these last days of summer. We have some exciting updates to share as well as some upcoming community events to highlight. We hope to see you at some of these events!
Latest News
Chinatown Teen Council Town Hall Recap
The Chinatown Teen Council held a Chinatown Community Town Hall in April. They presented findings of their food ecosystem mapping project that they conducted with APIFM (Asian Pacific Islander Forward Movement). They shared their findings on where food resources are located in the community as well as challenges that residents face when buying groceries.
LA Chinatown CLT was invited to share more about our work with community residents. In the past year, CLT board members have also participated in the Teen Council’s Oral History podcast where they document the history and current struggles of Chinatown. Check it out!
Teens share their findings from their Chinatown Food Ecosystem Survey and Mapping Project
Board Members Winnie Fong, Karen Law, Bill Chin, Elise Dang, and Joseph Amaral attend the Chinatown Teen Council Community Town Hall.
Top, L to R: William McGovern (MBA '24), Eileen Ung (LACCLT), Nima Ehsani (MBA '25), Divija Zoldeo (MBA '25), Shubhangi Singh (MBA '25)
LA Chinatown CLT Wins Ziman Center Grant!
This past spring, LA Chinatown CLT participated in UCLA's Anderson Social Impact Consulting Corps. Three amazing UCLA Anderson students - William McGovern, Divija Zoldeo, Shubhangi Singh - helped us develop recommendations on how to focus our messaging and marketing for future funding opportunities. As part of this competition, the students also successfully won a Ziman Center grant for the CLT to help us implement their recommendations. Thank you again to UCLA Anderson for this partnership!
Launching the LA Chinatown CLT Strategic Plan!
The LA Chinatown CLT is excited to announce that we’ve received a grant from the Roy + Patricia Disney Family Foundation for strategic planning. Through this strategic planning process, we will continue engaging with the community to reaffirm our mission and values as well as strengthen our focus and identify priorities for the coming year. We will be partnering with Joyce Chiao, a consultant who specializes in strategy and organizational development. She brings 10+years of experience working with both nonprofits and local public entities and centers diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout her work. In the upcoming months, we will be reaching out to our members and community to participate in this strategic planning process through focus groups, town halls, and other forums.
Join the LA Chinatown CLT Board!
Our annual membership meeting is fast approaching in November! We will have 5 board positions open, with at least one per category (Community, Resident/Lessee, General). If you are interested in helping lead this work and becoming a board member or if you have any questions about the role, please let us know. You can reach out to current Board President, Karen Law at lachinatownclt@gmail.com
Upcoming LA Chinatown CLT Events
General Membership Meeting (9/28, 10-11am)
Are you a LA Chinatown CLT Member? We want to hear from you!
LA Chinatown CLT Board and members will be meeting at the Chinatown Branch Library to review updates to our organization’s bylaws. These bylaws guide how the CLT functions and provides transparency and accountability for the organization and the board. After this general membership meeting, please join us for a CLT Meet and Greet!
Meet & Greet! (9/28, 11- 12pm)
We wanted to provide some casual space for members to come together and get to know each other. Come by the Chinatown Branch Library to meet the board and fellow members. This would also be a great space to share more about your ideas for the CLT and what concerns and vision you have for Chinatown.
2024 Quarter 4 Board Meeting (10/13, 9:30am - 12:00pm)
The Board will be holding its last quarterly board meeting in October. Please join us to hear about organization updates including report backs from various working groups and projects. We will also have more updates on possible acquisition opportunities we’ve been pursuing! This meeting will be a hybrid meeting via virtually on Zoom and in-person at the CACA office.
2025 Annual Membership Meeting (11/16, 1-3pm)
On November 16, 2024, the LA Chinatown CLT will be holding its annual membership meeting!
We will be holding elections where members will get to elect 5 board members at the Chinatown Branch Library. Board members are needed to continue to lead the CLT and guide what projects to take on in the new year, which includes working on our strategic plan t, exploring potential property acquisition opportunities, and hopefully hiring our first staff person!
Your voice matters!
As members, your vote and voice matters. Meet board nominees, ask questions, and decide who our next board members will be.
If you are interested in running for the board or if you would like to nominate someone for the board, please let us know. You can reach out to Board President Karen Law at lachinatownclt@gmail.com about nominations.
Upcoming Community Events
CA CLT Network Annual Conference (9/12/2024 - 9/13/2024)
The CA CLT Network’s Annual Conference is back in Los Angeles this year! For 2 days in September (9/12-9/13), CLTs from across the state will join together to participate in knowledge-sharing and collaboration with each other. This conference is a wonderful place to meet folks from across the state that are doing similar work and working to preserve affordable housing in CA. If you are already registered for the conference, the LA Chinatown CLT will be leading a tour with CCED for the attendees on 9/12!
This inspiring conference is sold out, but you can still join the waitlist here!
Stop the Gondola Town Hall (9/14, 2-4pm)
The Stop the Gondola coalition will be holding a town hall at the Alpine Recreation Center in Chinatown. Hear from residents who will be impacted most by the gondola and why they are against this “transit” project. Join with community members to discuss the community’s REAL transit needs.
The Power of Chinatown, Searching for Spatial Justice in Los Angeles Book Talk (9/28, 1-3pm)
Dr. Laureen Hom, an author, professor, and LA Chinatown CLT member, is hosting a book talk for her new book “The Power of Chinatown, Searching for Spatial Justice in Los Angeles” at the Chinatown Library on 9/28 at 1pm. Join us for an engaging conversation between Laureen and Dr. Wen Li. This will follow a CLT membership meeting and Meet & Greet
About the Book (UC Press)
Urban Chinatowns are dynamic, contested spaces that have persevered amid changes in the American cityscape. These neighborhoods are significant for many, from the residents and workers who rely on them for their livelihoods to the broader Chinese American community and political leaders who recognize their cultural heritage and economic value. In The Power of Chinatown, Laureen D. Hom provides a critical examination of the politics shaping the trajectory of development in Los Angeles Chinatown, one of the oldest urban Chinatowns in the United States.
Working from ethnographic fieldwork, Hom chronicles how Chinese Americans continue to gravitate to this space—despite being a geographically dispersed community—and how they have both resisted and encouraged processes of gentrification and displacement. The Power of Chinatown bridges understandings of community, geography, political economy, and race to show the complexities and contradictions of building community power, illuminating how these place-based ethnic politics might give rise to a more expansive vision of Asian American belonging and a just city for all.