About CHIRLA's College Program:

For over ten years, CHIRLA has worked tirelessly to empower immigrant youth here in Los Angeles though Organizing, Leadership Development, and Education.  For all these years, our organization has produced some of the best new youth organizers in the state and has significantly contributed to the new wave of youth leaders for immigrant rights.

College Access Program:

CHIRLA’s Academic Support Program provides strong assistance for the development of CHIRLA youth through tutoring, homework help, college application portfolio preparation, college tours, SAT prep classes, case management and counseling, and financial aid assistance.

CHIRLA youth members are highly motivated and achieving beyond 3.0 GPAs. Wise Up! Students have a 100% high school graduation rate and most are accepted into 4-year colleges and universities.

Several CHIRLA youth now work in social justice organizations, such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Salvadoran American Leadership and Education Fund (SALEF), United Farm Workers, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, Center for Third World Organizing, Californians for Justice, the UCLA Labor Center, and CHIRLA itself. Other students are now small business owners, and many are pursuing careers in academia and law.

CHIRLA’s leadership pipeline empowers high school youth, engage college-age activists, and supports graduates to become visionaries of the social justice movement and leaders of the nonprofit sector.