Today, he still considers himself on the front lines as the founder and executive director of the Social Justice Learning Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the education, health, and well being of youth and communities of color by empowering them to enact social change through research training and community mobilization.
One of the things the Social Justice Learning Institute recently did was partner with the Inglewood Unified School District to distribute bags of fresh fruit and vegetables to community members.
The Social Justice Learning Institute, which Scorza calls “small but mighty” with its $2.7 million annual budget, envisions communities where education empowers individuals to use the agency for the purpose of improving each other’s lives and to advocate for policies that address their needs.
In its quest to improve the community and its residents, the organization’s impact has built 103 gardens in the Los Angeles area, distributed 1,867 pounds of produce per year, has diverted 52,000 pounds of produce from landfills per year, led a $90 million bond campaign to improve Inglewood schools, it increased restorative justice funding in the Los Angeles Unified School District, advocated for statewide sugar-sweetened beverage fee and led community town halls, to bring more than 12,000 residents to talk about diabetes prevention.
In its efforts to empower through education, the Social Justice Learning Institute has taught more than 250 healthy lifestyle classes per year, enrolled 32 students at college campuses, and served 1,619 through its Urban Scholars program.