One tool that A Better LA uses to bring change to the community is to offer classes donated by its co-founder, Lou Tice of The Pacific Institute. These self-empowerment classes are based in cognitive psychology and designed to help residents of the city achieve their visions, goals and objectives both individually and collectively. Many find the classes to be a life changing experience.

While companies often pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to raise the level of effectiveness of their employees, A Better LA provides the video-based classes for free to the community.

"This class is about human potential and how we can reach higher levels of human potential," says Gary Mann, the first President of A Better LA. "If we can change our way of thinking we can change our results."

The organization offers three curricula, tailored to adults, educators and young people. The classes generally last between 25 and 32 hours, spread out over several days.

The spectrum of students in an Imagine 21 course often proves to be an eye-opening experience for all parties involved. "I've had ex-gang members and ex-felons together with clinical psychologists, doctors, PhDs, pastors of churches, pretty much whoever has heard about it and wants to come to it has been there," said A Better L.A. board member and LASD deputy sheriff Ray Bercini, who serves as facilitator for many of the youth courses.

The sheriff's department has approved A Better L.A. courses to serve as ongoing training for its employees to help develop leadership qualities and better connect with the community.

"We facilitate not only to law enforcement but ex-offenders as well," Mann said. "In the same room, we have sheriffs and ex-offenders, and it's kind of an interesting thing to have all these people come together. This curriculum has provided a common language of hope and allowed us to reach out to do things that we weren't able to do before."

A Better L.A. now aims to increase the capacity of its classes and attract additional facilitators by reaching out to professionals from diverse backgrounds. Individuals who wish to take a course can do so by emailing their desired class date and their name, organization, title, address and phone number to info@abetterla.org.

Once an individual completes the Imagine 21 course, he or she can opt to return shortly thereafter to take a facilitator's course, which consists of two consecutive eight-hour days during which he or she shadows a master facilitator such as Bercini or Mann.

"In the past, we all worked in silos, all fragmented, and nobody was working together," Bercini said. "A Better L.A. is drawing people in by creating this common language."

For more information about the classes, call A Better LA at 213-749-0405. You can also find more information about the Pacific Institute at their website, www.thepacificinstitute.com.