Conventional wisdom says that Gen Z and Gen Alpha are disengaged from society -- that they’ve checked out and don’t really care about reshaping the world around them. But an organization based in Los Angeles is actively and successfully challenging that narrative. In this episode of SoCal Voices, Haley Pollock, Director of Leadership & Mentorship at Legacy Youth Leadership, shares how the organization is developing and nurturing emerging leaders from all walks of life and creating positive community impact across Southern California and beyond. Get ready to be inspired and learn how you can help them with their mission to build better leaders and a better world.

Resources

Visit Legacy Youth Leadership's website.

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A college education isn’t the guarantee it once was. Rising tuition costs and growing uncertainty about whether a degree will lead to a stable, well-paying career are prompting many people to rethink what higher education should look like. If college is no longer the only path to success, what needs to change?

In this episode of SoCal Voices, educator and entrepreneur Kalista Combs explores how we can rethink learning, work, and family life by reshaping traditional approaches to workforce development, from skilled trades to AI. It’s a conversation about access, purpose, and creating better pathways forward.

Resources

Visit Kalista Combs' website.

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As host of the podcast Cocoon After Dark, LA’s Quincy Tessaverne platforms queer-centered conversations featuring Black and brown voices and serves as a safe space for SoCal’s queer community to tell their stories. In this episode of SoCal Voices, Quincy opens up about starting Cocoon After Dark, the critical community issues explored on the podcast, and the importance of creating safe spaces through storytelling.

Resources
Cocoon After Dark is available on Apple and Spotify.

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Connect with creator and host Angela Ross on LinkedIn.

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Southern California may be the land of dreams but like other parts of the country, the region has its share of law enforcement misconduct, including autopsy reports that hide the truth about people who die in police custody. In his book The Coroner’s Silence: Death Records and the Hidden Victims of Police Violence, UCLA Professor Terence Keel investigates how coroners and medical examiners omit key information about police actions — often attributing the death to a preexisting health condition or to the victim’s own actions. As a result, justice is denied to victims’ families and communities. In this episode of SoCal Voices, Professor Keel explains the systemic problems that allow this injustice to occur, and the structural and other changes needed to achieve real reform.

Resources

Visit Terence Keel’s website.

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Love to read? Check out SoCal Voices Bookshelf, Angela’s curated list of books set in dynamic Southern California.

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Connect with creator and host Angela Ross on LinkedIn.

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Keziyah Yisrael-Gayle, PhD, is an innovator working at the crossroads of science and community. She’s the founder of TollRAir, a biotech startup developing new treatments for lung inflammation caused by environmental toxins, an issue hitting some of Southern California’s most marginalized communities the hardest.

Her work recently earned second place and the People’s Choice Award at the SoCal OASIS Pitch Challenge in Riverside, along with funding to help scale her vision. In this episode of SoCal Voices, Keziyah shares her journey, her vision for healthier communities, and what it takes to build real solutions to Southern California’s toughest challenges.

Resources

Follow Keziyah Yisrael-Gayle, Ph.D. on LinkedIn

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Corporate buyouts and downsizing have reduced budgets and staff in newsrooms across SoCal, leaving community issues underreported and community members less informed. But some independent journalists are stepping up to fill the void, including Manny Sandoval, owner, editor, and publisher of Inland Empire Community News. In this episode of SoCal Voices, Sandoval talks about IECN's community impact, his approach to covering news in a changing media landscape, the personal circumstances that led him to journalism, the role of individual citizens in ensuring community issues receive coverage, and his long-term goals for Inland Empire Community News.

Resources

Inland Empire Community News

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If you feel like you're doing everything right and it still isn't enough to get ahead financially in Southern California, what you're about to hear may help. In this episode of SoCal Voices, host Angela Ross sits down with personal finance expert Lissa Lumutenga, who has built a reputation for helping people think differently about money, wealth, and survival in systems that weren't designed with the middle class in mind. We're talking real strategies for thriving in one of the most expensive regions of the country, and what it actually takes to build financial stability in SoCal.

Resources

Visit Lissa Lumutenga's website.

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Southern California is famous for sunshine, beaches, and opportunity but it's also known for a harsh reality. For far too many people, housing here feels out of reach. In this episode of SoCal Voices, host Angela Ross sits down with Emily Ramirez of the Southern California Association of Nonprofit Housing. Ramirez breaks down why it's so expensive to build affordable housing in SoCal, where well-intended policy goes wrong, and what has to change so that Southern California is a place where people of modest means can afford to live.

Resources:

Southern California Association of Nonprofit Housing

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