In August 2026, Innovate parent leaders came together to find solutions that advance high-quality education in schools across California! Here are a few examples of their organizing efforts:
Innovate has continued deepening its partnership with East Palo Alto Tennis and Tutoring (EPATT), which offers free in-school, after-school, and summer programs supporting college and career readiness. As part of this partnership, Innovate is leading a series of workshops with EPATT parents. This month, 15 children of Innovate parent leaders in the Ravenswood City School District successfully completed a high-impact tutoring summer pilot with EPATT. More to come on this partnership. Stay tuned!
Innovate parents in Southeast Los Angeles (SELA) came together to participate in trainings on LAUSD budget transparency, the road to college, and special education. These workshops helped families understand how they can use their voices to advocate for meaningful change.
As Innovate prepares to launch our next AI for Individualized Education Plans (AIEP) pilot in Los Angeles this Fall, we have been working closely with our incoming cohort of 8 parent navigators to build their knowledge about how families can more effectively engage in the IEP process. AIEP is a tool co-designed by Innovate parent leaders and the Burnes Center for Social Change at Northeastern University. The tool helps families better understand and navigate complex Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) by summarizing the IEP document, translating the summaries into multiple languages, and clarifying complex terms. AIEP parent navigators are parent leaders who receive stipends and in-depth training in order to follow a “promotora” or “peer-to-peer” model where they can support other families as they navigate their child’s IEP process by using the AIEP tool. The goal of this pilot is to help parents of students with IEPs across Los Angeles to better understand, navigate, and advocate for their children’s educational needs. Parent navigators will begin outreach to LA-based families next month!
Innovate Parent Leaders across all the regions we serve: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Redwood City, East Palo Alto, and Half Moon Bay came together for two focus groups (in English and Spanish) to share their perspectives on how they define a high-quality education.