The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce (the L.A. Chamber) is one of the nation’s oldest and most prominent regional business advocacy organizations. In June 2011, the L.A. Chamber received a grant from the Walmart Foundation to provide summer employment opportunities for underserved 16- to 21-year olds in Los Angeles. Through this grant, the L.A. Chamber partnered with civic and nonprofit organizations to offer summer work opportunities for 500 youth.

The L.A. Chamber engaged Informing Change to evaluate its implementation of the 2011 Summer Youth Employment Program. This report describes the impact of the L.A. Chamber’s Summer Youth Employment Program on the youth participants, and the value of the program for the participating nonprofit organizations and the L.A. Chamber itself. The report concludes with summary of results from an online survey of the youth participants’ experience with the program.