Our Mission
Our mission is to empower, uplift, and support community members and organizations to shape, steward, and nurture a more just and connected future for Altadena. By providing an inclusive support system for interdisciplinary engagement, participatory discourse, and collective dreaming, we aim to restore and renew Altadena, and all her residents, with a specific focus on the historically Black West Altadena community.
Our Vision
We envision a resilient, connected, and thriving Altadena where community voices are uplifted and public spaces serve as sites for meaningful engagement, transformation, and liberation. Our vision is to cultivate a space that supports creative expression, inclusion, and collective action—ensuring that Altadena’s rich history and evolving identity remain accessible and celebrated for generations to come.
Through placemaking and placekeeping efforts, we seek to provide an equitable platform for dialogue, learning, and collaborative innovation, working in tandem with residents, local organizations, and policymakers to align our efforts with the genuine needs of the community.
At the heart of this vision is our commitment to developing a “third place”—a welcoming, accessible, and community-driven environment beyond the home (first place) and workplace (second place). This reimagined public space will function as a gathering hub where residents can engage in meaningful discussions, cultural programming, artistic expression, and collaborative problem-solving. Designed to be inclusive and reflective of Altadena’s rich history, this space will foster deep social connections, inspire innovation, and provide a home for community-led initiatives.
Our Values
Joy: joy is a revolutionary act and needs to be central to the work of building together. Altadena CoLab seeks joy for all.
Relationships: relationships are foundational to human experience, the development of empathy, and connection. Community building needs to be rooted in relationship or it will not thrive.
Liberation: CoLab seeks to abolish systemic oppression and ensure liberation for all members of the community so that all can live with dignity, agency, and abundance.
Capacity Building: CoLab exists to expand community leader and members’ capacity to actualize their missions by alleviating administrative and operational burdens, making connections, and offering flexible and creative support
Reflective Cocreation: we must work together to reflect on (and reconcile) the past and boldly and openly dream of utopia in order to thoughtfully design and build for justice.