Neighbourhood Council The Los Angeles Global Shapers are pursuing a community engagement project, in coordination with the City of Los Angeles, Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (EmpowerLA) to increase millennial engagement with the Los Angeles Neighborhood Councils, including supporting millennial boards activity and increasing millennial voter turnout during the 2019 Neighborhood Council elections. Los Angeles has 4 million+ residents – a population higher than 23 U.S. States - and is so large that the cities of Boston, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Cleveland, St. Louis, and Manhattan could all fit inside it, with room to spare. Such a large group of people spread out over a vast tract of land presented unique governing challenges, leading to the formation of Neighborhood Councils, taxpayer-funded, hyperlocal governing bodies who advocate for their communities with LA City Hall on important issues like development, homelessness, and transportation policy. Millennials are heavily under-represented on Neighborhood Councils, but as Los Angele struggles with issues ranging from housing affordability and homelessness to embracing the role of technology in government, transportation, and more, we believe this needs to change. Key Takeaways * 68.8% either did not know what the Neighborhood council was or did not know Neighborhood Councils existed. * 66.4% have never interacted with their Neighborhood Council or seen any information from or about them. * Above all people wanted their Councils to address: Housing Affordability (66.1%), Homelessness (57.6%), and Parks and Open Spaces (50.5%). * 74.3% of respondents rented/leased their housing. Clearly, lack of information and engagement are issues for millennial Neighborhood Council involvement – especially for "renters". Despite this, there is passionate interest in a number of issues. Our goal is to solve the information gap and harness this passion to get millennials across Los Angeles engaged at the hyperlocal level. The Los Angeles hub did several things to start addressing the need for millennial representation in neighborhood council. After all, decisions are being made for us by older wealthier individuals. * We started a partnership with Empower LA at the city government level. * We hosted multiple workshops (that were packed - see attached image) * The hub recorded a 1-minute "how-to" video that showed viewers how to register as a candidate for their Neighborhood council * We took attendance of everyone that attended including what neighborhood they lived in. When the candidate enrollment time rolled around for their neighborhood we would send reminders to get people to register. (This is important because the neighborhoods do not follow the same election schedule which leads to confusion on registration.) * In the process, we learned that multiple Neighbourhood council seats are vacant during elected members terms, it is easier to get a millennial to be part of the council then getting them elected from the get-go. This is our next step.