Social Movements and Governing Power

From 2008 to 2019, the USC Equity Research Institute (ERI) published reports under our previous name, the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE). 

February 2016

by Veronica Terriquez, PhD and Gabriela Dominguez

United Students seeks to organize high school-aged youth in order to build student power in the Eastside of Los Angeles. United Students comprises the youth component of InnerCity Struggle, a non-profit organization whose mission is to organize youth and families to promote social and educational justice in Boyle Heights, El Sereno, Lincoln Heights and unincorporated East Los Angeles communities.

United Students is one of many youth leadership programs funded by The California Endowment that participates in Building Healthy Communities (BHC), an initiative which seeks to improve the well-being in select high poverty neighborhoods.

Drawing on 2014-2015 survey and semi-structured interview data collected as part of a broader evaluation of the BHC youth leadership programs, the purpose of this report is to provide a brief overview of United Students’ youth membership and outline some of the ways young people have been involved in and benefited from this group.

Download report

Inner City Struggle’s United Students: Supporting the Leadership and Healthy Development of Eastside Youth

Read our other publications by research area

    Immigrant Integration & Racial Justice

    Our work on immigrant integration and racial justice brings together three emphases: scholarship that draws on academic theory and rigorous research, data that provides information structured to highlight the process of immigrant integration over time, and engagement that seeks to create new dialogues with government, community organizers, business and civic leaders, immigrants and the voting public to advance immigrant integration and racial equity.

    Economic Inclusion & Climate Equity

    In the area of economic inclusion, we at ERI advance academic theory and practical applications linking economic growth, environmental quality, and civic health with bridging of racial and other gaps; produce accessible and actionable data and analysis through the data tools; and establish research partnerships to deepen and advance the dialogue, planning, and actions around racial equity, environmental justice, and the built environment.

    Social Movements & Governing Power

    ERI’s work in the area of governing power includes: conducting cross-disciplinary studies of today’s social movements, supporting learning and strategizing efforts to advance dialogues among organizers, funders, intermediaries, evaluators, and academics, and developing research-based social change frameworks and tools to inform—and be informed by—real-world, real-time efforts towards a vision of deep change.

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    In 2020, the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) and the USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII) merged to form the USC Equity Research Institute (ERI).

    The full list of publications published under our previous and current names can be found in our publications directory.

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