Civic Engagement
Alianza is the place where government and residents meet. As the only alliance of multidisciplinary NGOs in the Coachella Valley, Alianza brings together community members, nonprofits, and government to lead efforts for a thriving region. Alianza’s vision is one vibrant, healthy, and thriving Coachella Valley where people have a seat at the table for decisions that affect their daily lives.
Alianza is distinguished by its ability to:
- Shape systems to remove barriers to economic and physical health
- Elevate local resident leadership to create opportunities for civic engagement
- Advocate through resident-led, issue-based campaigns that foster new leaders and collective impact
- Lead strategy for comprehensive policy solutions for our region
Since 2010, Alianza Coachella Valley (formerly Building Healthy Communities) has successfully engaged residents in addressing some of the most critical issues impacting the Coachella Valley through policy and systems change. As a result of this experience in engaging diverse voices in complex policy conversations, Alianza understands what it takes to create a setting where policymakers and residents can develop a mutual understanding of the issue at hand and explore ways to move forward.
With an emphasis on one Coachella Valley that works for all, Alianza takes pride in its local roots. Our alliance is representative of NGOs and residents from Palm Springs to the Salton Sea addressing a range of issues dependent on community and government collaboration.
Projects
Affordable Care Act Outreach and Enrollment: 2013- 2014
Through a partnership with Desert Healthcare District for a Valley-wide outreach and enrollment campaign, Alianza reduced the number of ACA eligible but uninsured residents from 90,000 to 45,000 in two years. Alianza staff led a learning series where enrollment counselors and community residents discussed and troubleshot barriers to achieving successful enrollment. Desert Healthcare District tracked progress and milestones.
Local Control Funding Formula Public Awareness Campaign: 2015, 2016, 2017
Alianza developed a communications and outreach campaign to increase public awareness about the new funding formula used to fund education. Alianza guided Imprenta Communications on culturally and place-relevant messaging. Imprenta made media-buys. Alianza led community forums to prepare residents to engage in the newly created stakeholder committee and participate at school board hearings on their spending plans. The results included recruiting nearly 400 residents to remain engaged in education issues and consistent participation of over 50 residents throughout the multiple stakeholder meetings with the Coachella Valley Unified School District.
Disadvantaged Community Infrastructure Task Force (DCITF): 2013- Present
The DCITF is the first and only task force of its kind in the state of California. This task force was created when Alianza facilitated a conversation between residents and the Coachella Valley Water District with the aim of improving access to safe and affordable drinking water and wastewater in communities facing disadvantages. This task force is working to connect more than 80 small, rural water systems to the district's services.
Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG): 2019
Alianza worked with SCAG and Estelano LeSar consultant team to gather input for the 2020 Regional Transportation Plan / Sustainable Communities Strategy (Connect SoCal). Alianza provided feedback during the Connect SoCal development process, engaged local stakeholders, particularly those considered hard-to-reach, to inform them about Connect SoCal and solicit feedback. Alianza designed and facilitated the input sessions, resulting in the participation of 70 residents for 4 consecutive sessions.
Census 2020 Regional Coordinator for Outreach: 2019 - 2020
As the regional coordinator for Census outreach, Alianza convenes organizations from across the Coachella Valley and Blythe to implement an outreach strategy that targets the hard-to-count population. In this capacity, we convene, train and develop messaging, implement a grassroots outreach campaign that includes canvassing, and track progress to ensure a targeted approach to reach over 40,000 households. This is part of a larger Inland Empire effort to ensure an accurate count, in partnership with the Inland Empire Community Foundation.
Civic Education & Candidates Forums: 2014-Present
After residents identified a gap in accessing the electoral process, Alianza worked with residents, Public Counsel, Univision, and KCET to host a candidates forum for races in the Coachella Valley Unified School District and the Coachella Valley Water District. Alianza has regularly hosted candidate forums since that initial one in 2014. Alianza utilizes grassroots efforts like canvassing to encourage turnout and engages legal and media partners to ensure non-partisanship.