Love Letter LA

Dr. Ryan Smith (he/him)

“The history and lived experiences of Los Angeles’s people of color haven’t been adequately told, celebrated, or recognized yet.”

Love Letter LA will use an innovative blend of community-centered story-telling, live events, social media, and community building to help tell a more robust story of Los Angeles past, present, and future. The project will utilize social media, events, community-driven storytelling, and journalism to paint a more robust story of Los Angeles.

Ryan serves as the Chief Strategy Officer for Community Coalition, an organization that works to help transform the social and economic conditions in South LA that foster addiction, crime, violence, and poverty by building a community institution that involves thousands in creating, influencing, and changing public policy. Prior to joining the Community Coalition, Ryan served as the Chief External Officer for LA Unified’s Partnership for Los Angeles Schools managing the organization’s development, communications, policy and advocacy, and family and community engagement initiatives. Before that, Ryan served as the Executive Director of the Education Trust-West and Vice President of Strategic Advocacy for the Education Trust, a national education civil rights organization dedicated to closing opportunity gaps. At The Education Trust-West, he worked on producing actionable, accessible research and advocacy tools that reached state policymakers and on-the-ground community advocates and education leaders alike. Ryan also led the team’s development and production of “Black Minds Matter: Supporting the Educational Success of Black Students in California,” and “The Majority Report: Supporting the Educational Success of Latino Students in California.”