The LA Conservation Corps was founded in 1985 by former U.S Secretary of Commerce Mickey Kantor and a group of passionate Los Angeles civic leaders who were inspired by the Civilian Conservation Corps, which provided jobs, education, and hope to young men during the Great Depression. The Young Adult Corps program began operations in 1986 in a decommissioned fire station with 27 former gang members who were committed to turning their lives around. Since then, we have helped thousands of underprepared young adults engage in the job market, complete their high school education, and point their lives in a positive direction. Clean & Green was established in 1988 to offer a “first job experience” to middle and high school students during school breaks and teach a solid work ethic and marketable job skills that will benefit them all their lives. In 1993, we started the After School Program to fill gaps in the public education system.

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We have led the way in a national conservation and service corps movement that encompasses more than 100 corps in every state and the District of Columbia. These programs exist in urban and rural communities and employ more than 26,000 young people annually in a variety of conservation and service projects.

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Our workforce development programs offer youth and young adults paid work experience on a variety of conservation projects as well as the chance to build valuable life skills and personal resilience in a supportive environment. Some of those projects include:

• building parks and community gardens,

• planting trees,

• refurbishing hiking trails,

• removing graffiti, and

• cleaning alleyways.

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Corps members can earn a high school diploma through our affiliated charter school and the support services and case management they need to remove their barriers to success. Our goal is to give under-served young adults the chance for a meaningful, living-wage job with a career pathway or college or vocational school experience with future prospects for employment.

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Our After School Program provides academic enrichment, arts and humanities, athletics, and recreational activities for thousands of elementary, middle, and high school students in dozens of Los Angeles Unified School District schools every year.

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