Thigpenn attributes the success of his organization to the devoted grassroots leaders and community collaboration. A component of SCOPE is Action for Grassroots Empowerment and Neighborhood Development Alternatives (AGENDA), a grassroots membership organization that trains African-American and Latino community members to understand and participate in public policy formulation and decision-marking.

Another component is the Los Angeles Metropolitan Alliance, a regional community-labor alliance working for a long term economic justice agenda. Thigpenn has been involved in numerous projects, including job training programs, livable wage campaigns, and the King/Drew campaign to address the public health crisis in South Los Angeles.

In addition to his work on public policy advocacy and community organizing, Mr. Thigpenn has a long history of innovated work in the field of civic participation. In 2002 he founded the Alliance of Local Leaders for Education, Registration, and Turnout (ALLERT) a community/labor alliance dedicated to increasing the voter participation levels and consistency of low-income, inner city residents through coalition-building, the organizing of ongoing neighborhood-based precinct networks, and the use of state-of-the-art technology. ALLERT has developed a tracking database of over 150,000 voters who have participated in its programs.

In the spring of 2005 Mr. Thigpenn took a leave of absence to run the successful citywide field program for Los Angeles Mayor-elected Antonio Villaraigosa.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, CA, Thigpenn has focused his work on his community. Prior to founding SCOPE, he was executive director of Los Angeles Jobs with Peace and executive director of the Unity Workshop. He has received many honors and awards, including a Charles Bannerman Fellowship Award, and was named one of five “Heroes for Hard Times” by Mother Jones Magazine. Most recently he was honored as one of the California Peace Prize recipients for 2006.