LEAP mitigates the effects of poverty, racism and trauma by providing high-quality, trauma informed child care; comprehensive, culturally sensitive family support; and visionary community leadership.
LEAP: Learn • Engage • Advocate • Partner mitigates the effects of poverty, racism, and trauma by providing high-quality, trauma-informed child care, comprehensive, culturally sensitive family support, and visionary community leadership.
We envision a community where children are loved, valued, and respected and families are supported to reach their highest potential.
We believe that no one person, no one agency can address our community’s problems, and so we value our work in collaboration with other organizations and community partners.
We honor our collective and individual identities and assume positive intent in our interactions. By treating our students, our families, our partners and ourselves with respect, we create the opportunity for authentic relationships and nurture social justice.
We commit to being curious about our impact by challenging assumptions through reflection, experimentation, holistic evaluation and adaptation.
We build trust by engaging in our work responsibly and with accountability. We hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards and take personal responsibility for our actions.
Everyone deserves to experience joy. We strive to find joy in our work, to inspire joy in our children and families, and to recognize that joy is as necessary as bread to our sustenance and survival.
We are flexible and nimble, leveraging resources in order to pursue opportunities as they arise.
LEAP: Learn • Engage • Advocate • Partner was born out of the chaos of the early 1970s in Isla Vista. In the wake of riots and the burning of the Bank of America, the children and families who lived in Isla Vista needed support, strength and resilience. By creating a community that valued children, that enabled families to work and access the social services and support they needed, LEAP: Learn • Engage • Advocate • Partner sowed the seeds for a resilient, creative and thriving community.
Over the years, our work has expanded to serve children and families across the Central Coast. But, our purpose remains the same. We exist not only to provide direct services to families in need, but also to convene community members and stakeholders for the benefit of all.
Read our Strategic Plan for our future