L.A. Co-op Lab

Janté Pruitt

(she/her)

“Our initiative will support the development of a robust network of worker and community-owned enterprises contributing to thriving, self-determined neighborhoods rooted in solidarity economies.

I was raised in South Central, Los Angeles—the daughter and granddaughter of laborers—where the unemployment rate is often 2x that of the rest of the city, understanding both the precarity of work and the toll work can have on one’s relationship with themselves, their family, and their community. I watched as my mom worked three jobs, spending more and more time at work, with less and less pay, diminishing workplace protections, and little to no improvement in our family’s quality of life.

This system that exploits workers is not how our future has to be, in fact, if we are to survive, it must be radically different.”

Raised in South Central, Los Angeles, Janté Pruitt has a background in community organizing and policy development around jobs, economic development, and climate policy, which led her to her current work: supporting worker-owned cooperatives. In addition to her work, she is a sister, auntie, and daughter who cares about community and rebuilding meaningful relationships with land, as well as an interest in technical fashion design that she hopes will develop into a worker-owned design studio.