LoopIn's Beginnings
Helping people is part of my DNA. I remember as a child sitting around our family dinner table listening to my parents talk about people who were helping others. My brothers and I absorbed doing good by seeing others' model doing good. At 13 my mom brought me with her to the UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center Rape Treatment Center brunches where victims of sexual assault shared their stories about what had happened to them, and how the RTC healed them and heard them, believed them. As the women shared their stories, I understood how justice was served through them coming forward. I was exposed to the amazing work at the LA Conservation Corp, Homeboy Industries and how people showed up and engaged to care for others. Volunteering became automatic and just part of what we did.
In 2019 after many years of wanting to merge my philanthropic give back work with my LA LOOP community, we launched LOOPin, LA LOOP’s social good platform. I saw an opportunity to provide inspiration and knowledge around people doing good and spreading it out through our global reach that we’ve built over the last two decades. As CEO of LA LOOP I felt a call to action to help others engage like I had for so many years.
LA LOOP has always been about relationships and community. Our customers, vendors and fans— people we lovingly call our LOOPERS- care about their neighbors and their neighborhoods. We launched LOOPin, our social good platform to connect our LOOPERs with meaningful opportunities to give back and “looping” together. We hope to inspire LOOPERS to engage. Whether it’s supporting organizations through our LOOPin grants, getting technology devices into the hands of students who need them or procuring PPE to our heroic first responders, LOOPin is here to help. Our hope is to inspire LOOPERS to make the world a better place, one small act at a time.
This month we partner with Downtown Women’s Center to educate and inspire our loopers. We highlight individuals who have made a difference in the lives of women who are experiencing homelessness. And we hope to show how one small act can change someone’s life. 4 years ago I walked onto the DWC campus and into the Day Center. Thousands of women who experience homelessness are fed every day at the day center, they are able to shower, get medical attention, case managers support them with job training and whatever guidance they need. It was clear to me that women were met where they were. This was a place where women’s voices were heard. I quickly signed up to volunteer in the kitchen. I brought my children, my friends, my colleagues from work. I saw in these women that they had hopes and dreams just like me. And that I had a duty to help. Shortly thereafter I joined the board. And was honored in January to be asked to Chair the Board of Directors at DWC. Ending homelessness for women in Los Angeles is possible. We do this work every day at Downtown Women’s Center. I am in awe of the dedicated, passionate and driven staff that works tirelessly to house the women we serve. Bottom line I get back way more than I give — and am inspired in every way.
Join me in learning more and engaging in the work at Downtown Women’s Center.
