Pamela Stephens

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Pamela Stephens is a doctoral student in Urban Planning and a Graduate Student Researcher with the UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy. Her doctoral studies and research examine how urban planning practices produce Black space and the ways that Black communities build power within and across these spaces. She is particularly interested in how this plays out in Los Angeles, where the Black population is both declining and becoming more dispersed throughout the region and beyond.

Pamela continues to contribute research to forward the organizing and advocacy efforts, building off her work prior to pursuing her doctoral studies. While her research has spanned a myriad of topics, it generally focuses on the intersections of space and racial and economic inequality. Pamela holds a Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from UCLA and a Bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.

Silvia R. Gonzalez

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Silvia Gonzalez (Jimenez) is a doctoral student in Urban Planning and the Assistant Director at the Center for Neighborhood Knowledge at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs. Her research interests focus on the implications of place and the urban spatial structure on socioeconomic inequality. Previously, Silvia worked with the Center for the Study of Inequality at UCLA. She has worked extensively, as a researcher and consultant with nonprofit, community based, and government organizations. She holds a BA in Geography/Environmental Studies from UCLA and a Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning with a focus on Economic Development also from UCLA.

Selected Publications:

Loukaitou-Sideris, A., Gonzalez, S., & Ong, P. (2017). Triangulating Neighborhood Knowledge to Understand Neighborhood Change: Methods to Study Gentrification. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 0739456X17730890.

Pierce, G., & Gonzalez, S. R. (2017). Public Drinking Water System Coverage and Its Discontents: The Prevalence and Severity of Water Access Problems in California’s Mobile Home Parks. Environmental Justice.

Pierce, Gregory, and Silvia Gonzalez. “Mistrust at the tap? Factors contributing to public drinking water (mis) perception across US households.” Water Policy 19, no. 1 (2017): 1-12.

Pierce, Gregory, and Silvia Jimenez. “Unreliable water access in US mobile homes: evidence from the American Housing Survey.” Housing Policy Debate 25.4 (2015): 739-753.

Jimenez, Silvia, and Gregory Pierce. “Inequality at the Tap: Explaining Shortcomings in Safe Water Access in Los Angeles’ Mobile Home Communities.” UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, Social Justice Fellowship Publication. (2013). Online at: http://luskin.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/Jimenez_Pierce.pdf

Kenya L. Covington

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Kenya L. Covington conducts empirical research that examines social and economic inequality associated with the structural makeup of metropolitan areas. Her work suggests ways to better utilize social and urban policies that likely mitigate disparities in economic opportunity and well-being overall.

For over a decade she was professor of urban studies and planning at California State University Northridge and concluded her tenure as full professor. In 2015 she was named Distinguished Teacher of the Year.

Professor Covington teaches courses on Housing Policy, Introduction to Public Policy, Research Methods, Forces of Urbanization, Social Inequality and Urban Poverty. She joined the Public Policy faculty at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs in 2017. 

Dr. Covington actively participates in APPAM, Urban Affairs, ACSP and the Population Association of America. Over her career, Dr. Covington’s articles have appeared in the Journal of Urban Studies, Brookings Institution Policy Briefs, Journal of Urban Affairs, the International Journal on Economic Development, the Harvard Journal on Legislation, the National Urban League’s 2003 and 2004 publication titled The State of Black America, and The Review of Black Political Economy, among other publications.