Our mission is to spark compassion, personal responsibility and an appreciation of differences among California teenagers. The organization was founded to serve the most culturally diverse population in the world—California adolescents—and encourage them to appreciate their differences and to lead the nation in compassionate, active and responsible community engagement.

ENCOMPASS was founded in 2004 by experts in intergroup relations who have served youth for more than 20 years. Executive Director Lori Nelson and other founding staff and board members designed and implemented youth programs at the National Conference for Community and Justice in Los Angeles for many years before leaving to form the new organization.