Welcome to Camp Pando

Camp Pando is where young people who are reentering school from primarily from foster care, detention, and dropping out create sustainability projects—to make a difference in neighborhoods where they live—across Los Angeles County. 

The inaugural Camp Pando cohort went to work on a project in partnership with the Metropolitan Water District and LA Metro.

The Camp Pando trial project went great. A dozen young Camp Pando participants worked on a challenge with the Metropolitan Water District and LA Metro. The task was to invent ways for bus stops in LA County—12,108 of them—to become portals to a sustainable and water-wise future. 

An A-Team of creatives from Pando and the LA-based design studio, verynice, facilitated and rolled up their sleeves to help Camp Pando participants develop ingenious ideas. 

It was three days of brainstorming, exploring, planning, initiating, arguing, dreaming, cajoling, whiteboarding, traveling, riding, interviewing, prototyping, agreeing, disagreeing, and refining ideas. 

Mostly, it was big thinking about ways to build on Los Angeles’ sustainability infrastructure and save water.

Day one was the “Get Out” Session. We went into the community around Union Station and explored the Metro system, talked to people at bus stops, and took trains to understand the Metro rider experience. Later, Cris Liban, Metro’s Chief Sustainability Officer, talked with us about the challenges this multi-billion-dollar agency faces.

Next we generated project ideas. We used a creative process called a Blitz to go beyond boring and predictable ways of thinking to generate new creative ideas. And we pulled back the curtain on the sustainability granddaddy of LA: the Metropolitan Water District. The District provided the original seed funding needed to get Camp Pando off the ground with the support of Joe Chavez, Senior Public Affairs Representative.

We took a tour of the LA CleanTech Incubator and LADWP facility followed by presentations and discussions on the best project ideas we’d developed. We selected ideas with potential (small, achievable, and easy to accomplish) to push forward.  

We think of them as Pando Small Bets. 

Then we whittled down these ideas even more. 

The concept we landed on is big and achievable: Use Metro’s extraordinary network of bus stops, shelters, and signs to galvanize and bring hope and participation to riders and water users across the county.  

The plan is simple and customizable. We plan to attach a flag-shaped sign to each bus stop pole bearing the headline “How to save your family, neighborhood, and city.” There will also be a “I’m with Pando” logo and QR code. 

When you scan the bus stop’s QR code, your phone takes you to a page customized to your location and the relevant sustainability topic—such as water conservation—and invites you to get involved. 

Neighborhood projects like green roof gardens, water reward programs, a mobile food bus, a pop-up concert bus, or any current Pando Days project will be promoted.

We’d love for all of LA County’s bus stops—12,108 of them—to become our campus. 

This first Camp Pando project will:

Involve millions of Metro riders. Champion local sustainability projects. Be customizable to locations and projects. Become a source of community pride. Promote Pando and its model for engaging the young people of County in building a sustainable future.

Think of it as our secret plan to turn all of LA into a working sustainability campus.

We have Pando Small Bets, and the first big Camp Pando project, ready to go, and in need of funding. 

If you’d like to help us, or know someone who can, please contact us today.

Here’s what the Camp Pando campers are saying: 

”I want to be part of this opportunity to get out there and change the world. Our ideas can change the world, literally.”  – Salena Jones, Spring 2024 cohort

”I’m helping Pando make Metro better. I want to help because even small changes can make a big difference.”  – Erik Baney, Spring 2024 cohort

”Presenting, talking, brainstorming, all coming together just to figure out what we need to do to fix the world. It’s a whole different experience, and I’m blessed to be part of it.”  – Shasan Edwards, Spring 2024 cohort

”This program has gotten me interested, and I want to learn more, and continue. I’ve seen great ideas that are really possible.” – Angel, Spring 2024 cohort