Learn more about what UCLA Watts Leadership Institute is all about and what they are accomplishing.
“Jorja Leap and Karrah Lompa, co-founders of the Watts Leadership Institute (WLI), spoke with us about WLI and its unique collaborative, leader-led training model. They launched WLI in 2016 to support small nonprofits and real community leaders in Watts, a historically under-resourced community in South Los Angeles. Most of the participating nonprofits are small—the kind that work out of the back of their car or the public library—but the difference they’re making every day in their community is tremendous.
Even though Leap and Lompa are honorary residents in Watts, with Leap working for more than 40 years in Watts, they insist on being invisible outside of the community. They want attention to be placed on the true community leaders and their efforts, and not on them as WLI co-founders. “We want to be invisible support, to help from behind. We want this to grow and to always be in Watts, owned by Watts,” Lompa said.
Our conversation with Jorja Leap and Karrah Lompa has been edited and condensed for clarity. “