FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Bree Jensen
Phone: 626.787.4774
Email: bree@thesocialimpact.co
LOS ANGELES, CA — September 23, 2026 — The Coalition for Responsible Community Development (CRCD) celebrated the graduation of the 20th cohort of its Multi-Craft Core Curriculum (MC3) Apprenticeship Readiness program today, a milestone that lands with particular weight in the organization’s 20th anniversary year. Seventeen South Los Angeles residents crossed the stage at the 28th Street YMCA Gym, earning industry-recognized certifications and stepping into union apprenticeship pathways in the construction trades. They joined a growing community of MC3 alumni, now 200 strong, who have come through this program and gone on to build careers, support families, and leave their mark on the physical landscape of Los Angeles.
South Los Angeles has no shortage of people who are ready and willing to work in the building trades, but the pathways into union construction have historically been difficult to navigate without a guide, a connection, or a clear first step. The Building Trade’s MC3 was designed to bridge that gap between the city’s workforce needs and the community’s employment capabilities. Over eight intensive weeks, participants rotate through trade training facilities, earn industry recognized credentials and are exposed to various trades including electrical, plumbing, sheet metal, heavy machine operating, painting, glazing, among others. Graduates are connected to union apprenticeship opportunities with real, long-term earning potential and the program is free to all participants.
A Milestone That Means More Than a Number
When CRCD was founded in 2005, it made a promise to the community of South Los Angeles to create real opportunities for residents to build thriving careers, lives, and families. MC3 has been one of the most tangible expressions of that promise as a program that has now prepared 200 residents for careers in the union trades, collectively representing hundreds of thousands of dollars in wages earned, dozens of union cards issued, and a generation of South Angelenos who helped build the city they call home.
“On behalf of the Apprenticeship Readiness Fund, we’re extremely proud of what this cohort has completed today,” said Myllex Guadamuz, Program Coordinator, LA/OC Apprenticeship Readiness Fund. “There’s no doubt in my mind; this graduating class is going to do great things as they continue to pave the way towards their careers in their respective trades. It goes without saying, but it truly does take a village to graduate 20 cohorts. With the continued support of the LA/OC Building Trades Council, 44 local union affiliates, and partners like CA’s Workforce Development Board and CRCD, we can continue to bring these life-changing career opportunities to the communities we’re building in. This is what it’s all about. Preparing the next generation of union construction workers here, locally.”
For Cohort 20 graduates, crossing the stage is just the foundation of their journey ahead. Graduates leave the program with new skills, professional connections, and confidence to enter sustainable careers. Many are initiated into union locals within weeks of graduation, stepping immediately into paid work on job sites across Los Angeles including, for recent cohorts, the infrastructure and construction projects tied to the city’s preparation for the 2028 Olympics.
“This program is not just a regular program. The instructors, the people within this program really take the time to know your story, sit down with you to hear your goals,” shared graduate Daija Smith, “This program saves lives. I know that may sound dramatic, but whether it’s saving you, redirecting you, or changing your life in a way that’s going to help you and your family — it does that.”
Building the Workforce Los Angeles Needs
Cohort 20 graduates at a moment that is bigger than any single program or anniversary. Los Angeles is in the midst of a construction and infrastructure boom driven by the the 2027 Super Bowl and the 2028 Olympics & Paralympics and the demand for skilled, union-ready workers has never been higher. What CRCD began building long before these events were on the horizon was pathways for the people of South LA to play an integral role in the city’s transformation. For twenty years, MC3 has been just one pathway, and Cohort 20 is its most recent proof.
Partnership is key to this work. MC3 is built on long-standing relationships with the LA/OC Building and Construction Trades Council, The Apprenticeship Readiness Fund, and the U.S. Department of Labor — organizations that came together around a shared conviction that effective and equitable workforce development changes communities. The results speak for themselves: two hundred graduates and twenty cohorts later, a generation of South Los Angeles residents are building the future of their city.
“To every graduate in this room: the support you received over the last eight weeks does not end today,” said Jose Guadron, CRCD in his closing speech. “CRCD has spent twenty years building a community in South Los Angeles that goes beyond programs and certifications. From this day forward, you are a part of the CRCD family. Do not hesitate to reach out. Our door is always open, because once you are part of this family, that is not something that expires. That is forever.” — Jose Guadron, Senior Director of Workforce Development, CRCD
About the Multi-Craft Core Curriculum Program
CRCD’s MC3 Apprenticeship Readiness Training is a free, eight-week program that prepares South Los Angeles residents for union construction careers through hands-on trade training, industry-recognized certifications, and direct connections to union apprenticeship opportunities. Participants explore specialties including electrical, plumbing, carpentry, HVAC, solar, painting, and heavy equipment operation. Since its launch, MC3 has produced 200 graduates — South LA residents who have gone on to union careers, family-sustaining wages, and lasting contributions to the built environment of Los Angeles.
About CRCD
The Coalition for Responsible Community Development (CRCD) is a South Los Angeles-based nonprofit founded in 2005 with a mission to improve the quality of life for residents through workforce development, affordable housing, small business support, and community investment. Over 20 years, CRCD has served more than 12,000 South LA residents, developed 860 units of affordable housing, and built an integrated ecosystem of programs designed to create lasting economic mobility for the community it calls home. Learn more at coalitionrcd.org.
