Board Insights

OLASTEO has continued to endure the impact of COVID-19, like all organizations, and has had to make critical adjustments to our operating model on the fly. A typical OLASTEO Summer Experience means flying to an incredible destination and diving deep into its cultural waters. These are amazing experiences that afford students the opportunity to explore various museums and monuments, visit prominent college campuses, attend unique local events, and even travel to historic, international sites such as the Auschwitz Memorial and the Warsaw Ghetto Memorial. The Board of Directors recognized back in February that we must take swift action to curate a different type of experience for our students, rooted firmly in the virtual and distance learning space.

First up was the transformation of our OLASTEO Summer Experience to the 2020 OLASTEO Summer Virtual Experience. Keeping consistent and carrying on with tradition, our co-founders, Aaron and Ceci, recreated the OLASTEO foodie experience by serving our students meals from local spots, Hawkins & Hilltop. OLASTEO’s generous giving network also sponsored gift cards to SÜPRMARKT; a low-cost organic grocery service, providing healthy and delicious food to low-income communities in the food desert of South Los Angeles. Through the wonders of Zoom, world-renowned author and speaker Manny Scott and California State Senator Lena Gonzalez had the opportunity to engage in moving back-and-forths with our students. They shared their origin stories and outlooks on the future, highlighting opportunities for the youth to make an impact for both themselves and their communities. In keeping with our organization’s namesake, the participants were indeed able to see their lives through each other. We also recreated the escape room experience we’ve had on past trips by partnering with Puzzle Break, who like us, has also transitioned to meet the demands of this global pandemic. 

As we journey through the rest of this challenging year, we now begin our OLASTEO Speaker Series: Embracing Differences. OLASTEO will bring legendary voices to the table, sharing their profound and relevant experiences through authentic conversations. Starting in September, with Emmy award-winning filmmaker Loki Mulholland and Civil Rights icon JoAnne Bland, this speaker series will allow students, teachers, OLASTEO alumni, and friends of OLASTEO to hear from a diverse line-up of speakers, who will highlight our differences and reinforce our similarities. We encourage you to join us and cannot wait to get started!