Council members and TUMO representatives marked the coming launch of TUMO LA in North Hollywood and discussed the public financing used to acquire and improve the facility.

Councilmember Nazarian introduced TUMO, a free after‑school center that uses technology, mentorship and workshops to teach teens skills such as animation, coding, music production and web design. “When you visit TUMO, you’ll feel the electricity,” Nazarian said, adding that the center is “ready to ignite the next generation of creators, builders, and innovators.”

Why it matters: TUMO’s model aims to provide tech and creative instruction to teenagers at no cost, targeting equity of access for young people who cannot afford private training. City and nonprofit leaders said the center will serve thousands of students weekly and is intended to be a long‑term, free resource in Los Angeles.

What officials reported: Abigail Marquez, identified in the meeting as the general manager at the city department that oversees Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) spending, said the department supported the project’s acquisition and improvements with federal CDBG funds. Marquez said the city provided an initial acquisition allocation and additional CDBG resources to the project and that TUMO has leveraged private funds. In remarks, Marquez said the city supported “the initial $3,000,000 acquisition” and an additional “$2,500,000” in CDBG funding to support facility improvements. Councilmember Nazarian also said he helped secure state support he described as “over $20,000,000” for the project.

TUMO founders and managers described program details. Sam Simonian, a TUMO leader, told the council that the program serves tens of thousands of students weekly worldwide and that the North Hollywood center will offer a free, project‑based learning path for young people. Mary Lou Papazian, identified in the meeting as TUMO’s founding CEO, said the center is free and that the organization expects high demand: “We’re going to have a lot of students,” she said.

Partners and administration: City staff said the project used CDBG funds administered through the city’s consolidated plan process and that TUMO has also raised private dollars. Abigail Marquez said the city department worked across 19 city departments to support CDBG investments in the center.

Limits of what was said: Council and staff described the funding sources and amounts as part of the presentation. The transcript contains multiple dollar figures expressed by city staff and council members; the article reports those figures as they were stated in the meeting (see clarifying details). The council did not take a separate, explicit roll‑call vote on a TUMO appropriation during this presentation; city staff described allocations that had been made or planned through the department’s budget and grant processes.

Looking ahead: City and TUMO officials invited council members to tour the North Hollywood location once work is complete and said the center will enroll students free of charge once operations begin.