The Healthy Soils for Healthy Communities Initiative is a partnership between an environmental non-profit organization in Los Angeles (TreePeople), multiple academic institutions, and local government that engages L.A. communities around urban soil research and action. The motivation for the Health Soils for Healthy Communities Initiative is grounded in the need to have urban soil research informed by community and collaboration - two vital connections that are central to our understanding of ecology. In this session, we bring together speakers from the Initiative to highlight multiple components and discuss the bases, scope, status, and ambitions of the endeavor. In the aggregate, the presentations will offer a working template of locally-grounded science and practice centered on managing urban natural resources for direct community benefit. The objectives of the Initiative include: 1) Elevating healthy soils as the “brown” in green infrastructure policy, planning, management, and investments in both the built and natural environments; 2) Increasing public and policy-maker awareness of the importance and potential of healthy soils in building climate resilience, sustaining urban ecosystem functions, and enhancing public health; 3) Conducting cutting-edge science and research that gets used to fill the information gaps; 4) Facilitating policy changes to promote and support healthy urban soil projects; and 5) Empowering communities with science-based information, best management practices, and practical tools. Particular emphasis in this session will be the initial needs assessment phase of the Initiative aiming to: 1) determine the current status of Los Angeles’s urban soil health; 2) identify the most pressing urban soil issues and community needs through community consultation and outreach; and 3) provide specification of subsequent work regarding urban soil research, policy, public education and community engagement in the region.