OUR PATHWAYS TO CHANGE
The Road to Educational & Racial Justice
Every effort at CADRE strengthens the collective power of South LA parents — the changemakers who are reimagining schools, systems, and communities from the ground up. For South LA parents navigating school discipline, LAUSD policies, and systems that too often ignore their voices, this theory is a roadmap to real change.
CADRE’s Theory of Change begins with one truth: when Black and Brown parents are equipped, supported, and united, they can transform not only schools, but the stories, systems, and structures that shape their lives.
Together, these pathways reflect how CADRE builds capacity, shifts culture, and nurtures long-term healing — the foundation of racial and educational justice in South Los Angeles.
Pathway 1
We grow the change-making power of South LA parents.
Build Capacity
Parents who come to CADRE are often already fighting. They are learning their rights at school, pushing back against LAUSD discipline rights violations, and searching for alternatives to school suspension for their kids. When parents understand their rights, their influence, and their collective strength, they can move from surviving systems to transforming them. CADRE’s programs develop parent strategists, advocates, and organizers who lead with knowledge, courage, and vision. For South LA parents navigating unfair school discipline, LAUSD suspension policy, and systems that too often ignore their voices, building capacity is the first step toward real change.
Focus Areas:
- Leadership development and organizing skills to analyze systems and mobilize communities
- Political education and advocacy training that expose root causes and build solutions
- Coalition building and collective campaigns that align local struggles with statewide and national movements
- Parent-led accountability models that monitor LAUSD suspension policy and challenge unfair school discipline
- Community research and data literacy to turn lived experience into evidence for change
- Story-based analysis and action planning that center parents’ voices as experts
Impact:
- Parents gain confidence, strategy, and clarity about their power
- Parents become trusted leaders and decision-makers in schools and communities
- Policies begin to reflect parent-driven priorities for equity and dignity
- Parents who once felt the school was not listening now lead the conversations that change it
- Families gain access to LAUSD parent support resources and learn how to use them
Pathway 2
We rewrite the narrative about South LA families.
Change the Story
Parents reporting that the school is treating their child unfairly or facing school retaliation for speaking up deserve to have their truth told and believed.
For decades, harmful stereotypes have portrayed Black and Brown parents as uninvolved or incapable. Parents asking how to advocate for their child at school were made to feel like the problem. CADRE challenges those myths head-on, uplifting stories that reveal truth, reclaim dignity, and shift public consciousness about who parents are and what they make possible. It is central to our Theory of Change that the story of South LA families gets told on their own terms.
Focus Areas:
- Strategic storytelling and media partnerships that center parent experiences and truth
- Narrative framing campaigns that redefine “good parenting” through a racial justice lens
- Cultural analysis and public education that transform how institutions perceive South LA families
- Communications training that empowers parents to tell their own stories with data and power
- Collaborations with artists, journalists, and advocates to amplify authentic community narratives
- Detailed reporting and research that documents the real impact of school climate on Black and Brown families
Impact:
- Public and institutional beliefs about South LA parents shift toward respect and partnership
- Parents’ voices become central in education and policy conversations
- The community narrative changes from one of deficit to one of dignity, leadership, and resilience
Pathway 3
We root transformation in healing, unity, and collective care.
Build Power & Healing
Sustainable change demands spaces where parents can rest, reflect, and rebuild trust. CADRE fosters a culture of restoration and solidarity among parents, families, and youth because healing is organizing, and connection is power. Families dealing with hostile school environments find community, strategy, and healing together. This pathway is especially vital for parents in South LA and South Central communities who carry the weight of systems that were never designed with them in mind. Healing is not separate from our Theory of Change. It is the foundation of it.
Focus Areas:
- Healing-centered engagement and collective care as core parts of leadership
- Racial solidarity and cross-cultural unity between Black and Brown parents across South LA and South Central communities
- Transformative leadership practices that blend strategy, empathy, and wellness
- Community stewardship and intergenerational connection to sustain the movement
- Workshops, retreats, and peer networks that nurture mental, spiritual, and emotional resilience
Impact:
- Parents develop a shared identity as movement leaders for human rights and racial justice
- Social norms shift to value healing, racial unity, and collective stewardship
- Schools and communities become more responsive, equitable, and restorative
- Families dealing with hostile school environments find community, strategy, and healing together
- South LA grows into a self-determined community, thriving, safe, and rooted in love