The Empowerment Congress Southwest Area Neighborhood Development Council is an organization that is officially certified by the City of Los Angeles to increase our influence with City lawmakers and departments to improve our community. The Board is elected by stakeholders and is comprised of volunteers. We promote public participation in city governance and decision making processes. The Board is allocated a budget of $37,000 by the City from your tax dollars for the purpose of conducting outreach to the community and including the community in local improvement projects.

View our Bylaws

Come to a Meeting!

The board holds monthly meetings, on the third Monday of the month, 6-7:30pm at the Constituent Service Center located at 8475 S. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90044. All meetings are open to the public.

What is the Purpose of the Council?

The purpose of the Council is to promote more citizen participation in local government and to make local government more responsive to local needs.

The Council provides a forum for Stakeholders to address issues concerning our neighborhood and quality of life. The Council shall participate as a body on issues concerning our neighborhood and regarding the governance of the City of Los Angeles (“City”) in a transparent, inclusive, collaborative, accountable and viable manner.

Our Mission

The mission of the Neighborhood Development Council is to:

  1. To provide an inclusive and open forum for public discussion of issues of interest to the Council, including City governance, the needs of the Council, the delivery of City services to the Council area, and other matters of a City wide nature;
  2. To advise the City on issues of interest to the Council, including City governance, the needs of the Council, the delivery of City services to the Council area, and other matters of a City wide nature;
  3. To initiate, execute and support projects for the physical, social and cultural improvement of the Council area; and
  4. To facilitate communication between the City and Community Stakeholders on issues of concern to the community and/or the Stakeholders.

Our Neighborhood

In 2013 a team from a UCLA graduate course on neighborhood analysis methods completed a report on our community. The report provides insights on our demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and economic base. View the ECSWANDC Neighborhood Analysis Report. Please note, the file is about 13 mgs.

Our Board

Our board consists of 13 volunteer board members.

View board member information

What is a Stakeholder?

The following is the Neighborhood Council’s definition of stakeholder: Neighborhood Council membership is open to all Stakeholders. “Stakeholders” shall be defined as those who live, work, or own property in the neighborhood or to those who declare a stake in the neighborhood and affirm the factual basis for it. In addition, stakeholders are those persons who own a business within the Neighborhood Council’s boundaries or own real estate property within the Neighborhood Council’s boundaries or attends school within the Neighborhood Council’s boundaries or attends a religious organization within the Neighborhood Council’s boundaries.

What are the Council’s Boundaries?

North: Florence Ave. (Between Van Ness Ave. and Vermont Ave.)
South: Century Blvd. from Van Ness Ave. east along Los Angeles City Boundary line to 108th St.
East: 108TH St. north along Los Angeles City boundary line to Vermont Ave (between City boundary lind and Florence Ave.)
West: Van Ness Ave. (Between Century Blvd. and Florence)

View the boundary map

Getting Council Funding

If your organization would like us to fund an effort that would benefit our outreach in the community, please complete the Neighborhood Purposes Grant Form and email the form to chair@southwestnc.org.

Please plan ahead, it can take 2-3 months or more to approve and process a funding request before payment is sent. The Board can only discuss and vote on items on the agenda, so completed Neighborhood Purposes Grant requests must be received at least a week prior to the next meeting to be considered for the agenda.

Neighborhood Council Funding System Dashboard