Archive for category: Diversity

Dorothy Faye Pirtle blends public policy and culinary arts to increase food access

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Family, community and food have always been at the core of Dorothy Faye Pirtle’s educational journey. Growing up African American and Korean American in what was once known as South Central Los Angeles, Pirtle, a dual master’s candidate in public policy and urban regional planning, has been a longtime social justice advocate.

“For me, it’s about leading an interdisciplinary life through school, food, cooking,” she said.

Pirtle’s interest in this life began in a very personal way. With few Asian ingredients found at local grocery stores, Pirtle’s mother, who is Korean, grew produce in their backyard. Pirtle was able to connect with that part of her heritage as she learned how to grow and cook her own food, such as using herbs like mugwort in savory dishes and knowing which types of lettuce were best for Korean lettuce wraps. One of Pirtle’s fondest childhood memories was eating her mom’s seaweed soup.

Her focus on community and activism also started early. At 12 years old, Pirtle witnessed the civil unrest that spread across Los Angeles in April 1992 following the acquittal of the officers charged in the beating of Rodney King. She would go on to attend community events and meet Asian American and Pacific Islander leaders such as Marcia Choo and K.W. Lee.

Lee, a pioneering Asian American journalist who called Pirtle his “adopted granddaughter” during her fellowship at the K.W. Lee Center for Leadership, taught her and other Koreans about cross-racial solidarity. Choo, who later wrote one of Pirtle’s recommendation letters for UCLA, also modeled for her the importance of community-building, service and engagement. They inspired her to think more deeply about racial inequality.

Community activism through food

Pirtle began her higher education journey at UC Irvine, where she majored in social science. She also received associate degrees in culinary arts/chef training, professional baking and restaurant management from Los Angeles Trade Technical College.

While living in South L.A. City after finishing trade school, Pirtle began to connect food, community and policy together.

Her local supermarket — which supports 75,000 people — shut down, leaving neighborhoods without fresh produce and other goods.

“If you wanted to buy a tomato or cilantro — or laundry detergent — where would you go? I created the California Black Council on Food Policy out of this need to address what was happening in my community,” she said.

The coalition has gone on to tackle food disparities through solutions driven by Black communities experiencing these issues.

Using her previous work experience managing farmers markets and working at a business development center, Pirtle devised the idea of helping entrepreneurs access resources within the farmers market space and created the nonprofit Lily of the Nile 1992. The organization, which she founded in 2021, operates farmers markets, farm stands and food distributions to bring California-grown produce to South Los Angeles. It provides research on farmers market programs and facilitates access to these markets even for those who are spatially segregated from them while also fostering community by celebrating African American culinary traditions.

Pirtle works with farmers from historically underrepresented backgrounds to help them write grants. She secured a Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program award for K&K Ranch, a family-owned farm, to purchase a refrigerated truck. She plans on establishing farmers markets across the area and hosting the farmers she writes grants on behalf of.

“This work is very much about relationships and honoring what people do,” Pirtle said.

From Lulu to the Luskin Center

Her farmers market expertise and culinary skills ultimately brought Pirtle to UCLA. She drew on this experience while working at Lulu at the Hammer Museum. Conceived by Alice Waters and David Tanis, the farm-to-table restaurant allows people to experience regenerative, sustainable and seasonal produce. As a forager, Pirtle sourced local food from farmers markets and from around L.A. for their rotating menu.

“I would ask the chef, ‘Is there something special you want to make, and is there an ingredient that you’re looking for?’ And then I would go out and find the item,” Pirtle said.

This work and the connections made at Lulu deepened Pirtle’s interest in pursuing further education at UCLA. Pirtle became a dual degree student because she believes public policy can take a finite amount of resources and create infinite public good, such as through programs like CalFresh and farmer subsidies to help address food insecurity and inequities.

For her, it was a full-circle moment: UCLA was always Pirtle’s dream school, and she recognizes UCLA professors Kimberlé Crenshaw and Cheryl Harris, both legal scholars on race and justice, as two of the main reasons why.

She plans to use the knowledge gleaned from her dual master’s to develop urban gardens and farmers markets in South L.A. Currently, she is working on developing a farmers market with her nonprofit Lily of the Nile 1992 and the Lulu Project, Lulu’s arm for regenerative food and community wellness.

“My impetus for attending graduate school was looking at the community I came from and figuring out how I can make a difference here,” she said. “It was about deepening my relationship to land, people and place.”

This article was originally published on UCLA Newsroom. Read the full article here.

Terriquez Helps Spotlight Forgotten Latina Lesbian Activists in Groundbreaking L.A. Exhibit Terriquez, director of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center and faculty at UCLA Luskin, supports powerful exhibition that brings long-overdue recognition to Latina lesbian activism in East Los Angeles.

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A new exhibition showcasing archival collections of prominent Latina lesbians and narrating their involvement in LGBTQ+, immigrant, labor, and housing justice movements, will be presented at the Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College.

Veronica Terriquez, director of UCLA’s Chicano Studies Research Center (CSRC) and professor of urban planning, supported the curation of the “On the Side of Angels” exhibition, which features materials from the CSRC Library archives: photography, posters, magazines, and video footage from the collections of policy and civil rights advocate Laura Esquivel, tenant rights attorney Elena Popp, and former CSRC librarian Yolanda Retter Vargas. The exhibition was co-curated by Vanessa Esperanza Quintero and Jocelyne Sanchez and is on view through August 30.

“Our mission is to share with the public as much history as possible, including highlighting historical moments — and people — who tend to not receive all the attention or credit for their important work,” Terriquez said. “We are incredibly proud of this exhibition because it features women who championed immigrant rights, safer working conditions, and broader acceptance of LGBTQ and other marginalized communities — efforts that have paved the way for cross-movement solidarity in Los Angeles and beyond.”

Terriquez is co-founder of the Latina Futures 2050 Lab, an initiative focused on uplifting Latina leaders, scholars, and changemakers by producing research and storytelling that informs policy, empowers communities, and shapes a more inclusive future.

Her scholarship at UCLA Luskin centers on social movements, youth civic engagement, and intersectional equity, with a particular focus on low-income communities of color.

Luskin Lecture on the Ongoing Fight for LGBTQ+ Equality Tony Hoang joins Luskin Lecture Series for a timely dialogue on civil rights and the road ahead.

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Amid rising political polarization and legislative efforts to roll back LGBTQ+ rights and protections, UCLA Luskin brought the conversation home with a powerful event exploring what’s at stake — and what’s possible — in the ongoing fight for equality. 

 

“LGBTQ+ Equality and the 2025 Landscape,” the latest in the Luskin Lecture Series and co-hosted by UCLA Luskin’s Office of Student Affairs and Alumni Relations, took place May 20 at UCLA’s Kerckhoff Grand Salon. The evening featured keynote speaker Tony Hoang, executive director of Equality California and Silver State Equality, who delivered a sobering yet hopeful message about the road ahead. 

 

The son of Vietnamese refugees and the first in his family to attend college, Hoang now leads the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization. Hoang began his presentation with a look back at key moments in California’s legislative history in the fight for marriage equality — from Prop 22 and the Knight Initiative to Obergefell v. Hodges — highlighting how far the movement has come. 

 

The event, moderated by Michael Fleming, president and founding executive director of the David Bohnett Foundation and longtime lecturer in social welfare at UCLA Luskin, brought together students, faculty, alumni, and community members for a timely dialogue on civil rights, civic engagement and the power of community mobilization. 

 

Hoang addressed a troubling trend among major corporations pulling back from Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in response to mounting political backlash. He expressed deep concern over what he sees as a growing retreat by once-supportive businesses and national brands, many of which are wary of aligning in opposition to the Trump administration.

 

“There are a lot of challenges ahead,” Hoang said. “But know that this community has been here before. It’s about how we show up — organizing, coalition-building — that will make all the difference in how we continue to move forward. That’s how we keep our eyes ahead of us.” 

View event photos.

Mega-Events, Major Opportunities As it prepares to host a series of monumental gatherings, L.A. is urged to seize the moment to bring lasting benefits to the region

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Los Angeles is preparing to host several monumental events in the coming years, including the FIFA World Cup in 2026, Super Bowl LXI in 2027, and the Summer Olympics and Paralympics in 2028.

How can government and civic leaders balance the immediate needs of these global exhibitions with long-term planning goals that advance accessibility, equity and sustainability across the region?

That question was the focus of “Mega Events, Major Opportunities,” the 34th annual UCLA Lake Arrowhead Symposium held in October. The three-day experience presented by the Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS) at UCLA Luskin drew nearly 170 attendees from the spheres of policymaking, urban planning, advocacy, philanthropy, academia and more.

Participants emphasized the need not just for temporary, event-specific game plans but also for lasting improvements that benefit the lives of Angelenos long after the crowds go home.

A report published by ITS summarizes the symposium’s key takeaways. Some highlights:

Coordination and Inclusion

Several speakers said Los Angeles’ preparations for the blitz of mega-events is like the rush to clean one’s house before guests arrive. The City of Los Angeles, LA Metro and the nonprofit LA28, which is organizing the Summer Olympics and Paralympics, are among the major entities working under deadline pressure to ensure the events are smoothly run.

But there’s a need for more coordination and transparency to identify and meet the common goals of government, civic and private sectors, several symposium participants said.

A top priority is authentic community engagement to hear directly from Angelenos about what investments might bring lasting benefits to their neighborhoods. In particular, attendees called for the inclusion of people with disabilities in the planning process, to help jumpstart Los Angeles’ stated commitment to improve accessibility for all.

A ‘Transit-First Games’

When the L.A. Games come to town, each venue will have a wide perimeter, thanks to U.S. Department of Homeland Security protocols. Public transit, not personal vehicles, will ferry most spectators to the events, creating a unique incentive to accelerate infrastructure changes that improve the efficiency of L.A.’s bus system. One strategy endorsed by symposium participants is a far-reaching public education campaign to help overcome political opposition to dedicated bus lanes, which can make transportation more affordable, equitable and climate-friendly.

Mega-event planners may be motivated by a desire to avoid traffic gridlock that causes spectators, workers, media and even athletes to miss events, but providing quality public transportation service for the people who live in Los Angeles ought to be top of mind.

Investing in Housing, Neighborhoods and Local Business

To keep costs down, LA28 planners will maximize the use of existing venues and supporting infrastructure. But symposium participants identified ample opportunities for investments that ensure that the Games are successful and the city is left better off than before:

  • Housing built for the army of temporary workers who will need to relocate to Los Angeles could then be repurposed to fill a dire need for affordable housing or permanent supportive housing.
  • The Games could be a catalyst for neighborhood improvement projects, including gathering places for watching the events. Community input, along with funding from local governments, local businesses and philanthropy, could lead to thriving and accessible public spaces that reflect the character of neighborhoods.
  • In Los Angeles County, 94% of companies have fewer than 20 employees, but small and mid-size businesses often face challenges in meeting procurement requirements of governments and large businesses. LA28 contracting opportunities that prioritize local, small and diverse businesses could create markets that extend well beyond the mega-event.

Meeting the urgency of hosting the world is a challenge for Los Angeles, symposium participants concluded, but also an opportunity to break through a bureaucracy-as-usual approach and create a more vibrant future for all Angelenos.

L.A. Mayor Focuses on the Need for Housing Solutions During UCLA Luskin Summit Karen Bass visits campus to join discussions on the value of research about issues like homelessness, climate resilience, governance and equity in transportation

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By Les Dunseith

On April 17, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was the featured speaker as scholars, civic leaders and the philanthropic community came together to discuss policy issues during the sixth annual UCLA Luskin Summit.

What was on her mind? Housing.

Bass, who declared homelessness a state of emergency immediately upon taking office as mayor in December 2022, told the more than 300 people in attendance at the UCLA Luskin Conference Center that her office is now turning more attention to longer-term solutions after initially emphasizing urgency in getting unhoused people off the streets.

“It is not reasonable for somebody [needing shelter] to be able to stay around while we get housing built,” she said of the challenge to provide shelter for people in need amid an ongoing affordable housing crisis.

The mayor’s remarks were delivered during a discussion with Jacqueline Waggoner MA UP ’96, the current chair of the Luskin School’s Board of Advisors. Waggoner, who is the president of the Solutions Division for Enterprise Community Partners, said she was heartened by the mayor’s intense focus on homelessness, given the magnitude of the problem in Los Angeles.

Bass, a former congresswoman who now chairs the Homelessness Task Force for the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said that meeting with mayors around the country presents an opportunity to learn from others, and for other cities in the United States to benefit from what is being done in Southern California. She had announced a new housing initiative based on a program in Atlanta two days before speaking at the Luskin Summit.

“I feel good in terms of what we can do and how we should move forward,” said Bass, who then emphasized, “the biggest question is scale.”

two men in ties sit on stage as one speaks

During an on-stage interview by ABC7’s Josh Haskell, left, the results of the ninth Quality of Life Index were unveiled by UCLA’s Zev Yaroslavsky. Photo by Stan Paul

Concerns over housing affordability was also a key takeaway from the ninth annual Quality of Life Index, which was publicly unveiled in the opening session of the 2024 Luskin Summit. The project at UCLA Luskin is directed by former Los Angeles public official Zev Yaroslavsky, now an adjunct faculty member at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.

Concerns over the high cost of living pushed the satisfaction of Los Angeles County residents back to its lowest-ever level, according to the annual survey, which received coverage as breaking news by media outlets that included the Los Angeles Times, area radio stations and the local affiliates of all four major U.S. broadcast TV networks.

More than half of respondents, or 59%, cited housing as the most important factor in their rating. During a Q&A moderated by reporter Josh Haskell of ABC7 in Los Angeles, Yaroslavsky pointed out that renters are feeling especially pessimistic about their futures.

“In our survey, we found that 75% of renters do not think they will ever be able to afford to buy a home in a place they’d like to live in Los Angeles County. Think about that — more and more people in our region see the American dream of homeownership slipping away,” Yaroslavsky said.

Yaroslavsky’s remarks were followed by six breakout sessions that examined timely policy issues from the perspective of scholarly research originating at the Luskin School and its affiliated research centers.

Summit attendees heard about studies and policy proposals in climate resilience, governance and equity in transportation. Panels made up of UCLA Luskin scholars and experts from the public, private and nonprofit sectors took on pressing issues affecting Los Angeles and beyond:

  • What strategies can governments adopt now to help communities withstand rising temperatures?
  • How is the Southland voter pool changing in this election year, and how can Los Angeles better provide representation for its 3.8 million people
  • How are government agencies and nonprofits meeting the transportation needs of the region’s most disadvantaged people?

Much of the conversation was guided by research conducted by the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, the Institute of Transportation Studies, the Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies and the Latino Policy and Politics Institute.

two Black women chat while seated on a stage with microphones in handBoard of Advisors chair Jacqueline Waggoner emceed the discussion with Mayor Karen Bass. Photo by Stan Paul
two Black women chat while seated on a stage with microphones in hand
two Black women chat while seated on a stage with microphones in hand
mayor in green poses with young people
mayor in green poses with young people
mayor in green suite chats with young person as they walk
mayor in green suite chats with young person as they walk
four people chat together inside a conference ballroom
four people chat together inside a conference ballroom
people at tables in large ballroom
people at tables in large ballroom

The session with the mayor was the final session of this year’s Luskin Summit. For about an hour, Bass answered questions and engaged in conversation with Waggoner, a native Angeleno with a longtime connection to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA).

Since Bass took office, Waggoner said she has noticed visible change in the homeless population. In the past, she would see people leave the streets, only to return soon after.

“I haven’t seen those same people in a year, and what I would say to you is that you are on the path to permanent solutions,” Waggoner said to Bass.

“But I’m never satisfied,” replied Bass, a former social worker. She understands that people experiencing homelessness need not just roofs over their heads, but social services.

“I come at it with a bias because my background is in health care, and I just think we need to do much, much more,” Bass said.

She noted that mental health is something that people often talk about in connection to the unhoused population, but treatment for chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and cancer are also important and deserve attention.

“I feel that health needs to be at the center,” Bass said.

Waggoner said that with homelessness spreading “in every neighborhood, people want to do something about it.”

two women seatedAngelly Tovar of Rebel Group, left, and Avital Shavit of LA Metro discuss mobility solutions at a Summit breakout session. Photo by Mary Braswell
two women seated
two women seated
man seated, smiling
man seated, smiling
man pointing to screen
man pointing to screen

Noting UCLA Luskin’s public-private partnerships with organizations like Hilton Foundation, a Summit sponsor, Waggoner asked Bass about the role of businesses and other groups in helping to get people into permanent housing.

“We are a state of unbelievable wealth. We have many, many, many billionaires that live in the city, tons of multi-millionaires who do phenomenal charitable work,” Bass responded. “I feel good that we’ve been able to align the public sector. But now we need the private sector, we need private money … to expedite the building” of more affordable housing.

Relying on public money can be a slow process because of regulations, construction approvals and the need to juggle multiple funding streams.

“A private developer comes in and can get the development going,” Bass explained. “So, we are hoping that we can do a capital campaign. Everybody knows capital campaigns — buildings get built.”

During her discussion with Waggoner and the 25-minute audience Q&A that followed, Bass also talked about the city’s LA4LA plan to partner with private donors and business to purchase existing properties, including major hotels, to develop its system of long-term interim and permanent housing.

Noting the scale of the problem and an audience consisting of scholars, philanthropic leaders and community organizations, Waggoner pointed out that many people will need to play a part for Bass to realize her vision of a housing solution in Los Angeles.

“Everyone needs to have skin in this game,” Bass said.

The annual event is organized by the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs under the guidance of its Board of Advisors, and naming benefactors Meyer and Renee Luskin were among those in attendance. The event was supported by gifts from 12 local charitable organizations and businesses, many of which have been sponsors since the first Luskin Summit in 2019. This year’s theme was “Transformative Action.”

Mary Braswell and Stan Paul also contributed to this story. 

—

See additional photos on Flickr:

UCLA Luskin Summit 2024

Watch a recording of the mayor’s discussion with Waggoner and the audience Q&A on our Vimeo channel:

 

 

L.A. County Residents’ Satisfaction With Quality of Life Matches Lowest in Year 9 of Survey High cost of housing is the most important factor impacting the annual Quality of Life Index, particularly among renters

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By Les Dunseith

Concerns over the high cost of living pushed the satisfaction of Los Angeles County residents back to its lowest-ever level, with renters feeling especially pessimistic about their futures, according to an annual UCLA survey.

The Quality of Life Index, or QLI, is a project of the Los Angeles Initiative at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs  that measures county residents’ satisfaction in nine categories. The overall rating fell two points from last year to 53 on a scale from 10 to 100, marking the second time in three years it came in below the survey’s 55 midpoint since the index launched in 2016. That means a majority of respondents are dissatisfied with the overall quality of their lives.

fever chart shows rating change over time

The cost-of-living rating dropped from 41 to 38, the lowest satisfaction score ever observed for any category in the survey. Although all major demographic subgroups rated the cost of living negatively, the lowest scores came from women, 36 (33 from those 50–64 years old) and Latinas, 36 — as well as renters, 35.

Zev Yaroslavsky, director of the study at UCLA, said renters, who make up nearly half of survey respondents, are being disproportionately affected by the economic and inflationary pressures facing the region. More than half, or 59%, cited housing as the most important factor in their rating.

“Housing costs have gone up,” Yaroslavsky said. “And incomes have not gone up anywhere near commensurate with what’s happened to housing.”

While 61% of homeowners feel optimistic about their economic future in Los Angeles County, 51% of renters report being pessimistic. Only 23% of renters think they will be able to buy a home where they would want to live at some point in the future.

pie chart shows only one in four renters expect to buy a home eventually

 

This year’s survey also produced striking results on the issue of homelessness.

“We discovered very little optimism about whether the current programs and efforts to eradicate homelessness will work,” Yaroslavsky said.

More than half, or 60%, of respondents said homelessness in their area has gotten worse over the past year, with only 10% saying it has gotten better. Just 20% are more hopeful than they were last year that the homelessness situation in Los Angeles County will improve.

Respondents were also asked whether they worried about becoming homeless themselves, with the highest levels of anxiety expressed by people living in households earning less than $60,000 annually at 44%, renters 37% and African Americans 33%.

“Despite the best efforts of state and local officials, the public is more negative and less hopeful about solving homelessness,” Yaroslavsky said.

In an election year, do such findings signal possible voter upheaval?

“It feeds an overall sense that things aren’t working well,” said Yaroslavsky, a former elected official. He framed this year’s results in the context of nearly a decade’s worth of research showing positive results for neighborhood quality and racial/ethnic relations, but low marks in categories commonly associated with decisions by public officials.

“A main theme over the last nine years is that Angelenos love the neighborhoods where they live. We appreciate diversity and get along with others better than some people think. And the quality of life for most of us is pretty good,” he said. “But at some fundamental level, people think our governmental institutions are letting them down.”

The QLI showed minor changes from the previous year in most categories, although satisfaction with education fell three points to 48, the second-lowest score behind cost of living. While transportation/traffic jumped eight points in importance from 2023, it remained among the three lowest categories in quality-of-life importance.

Among Angelenos who are employed, 55% are working full time at a workplace away from their home. Of those, 59% of Latinos, 64% of African Americans, 63% of men over age 50 and 63% of Latino men always work away from home.

The last year has seen a modest decline in most ratings for elected officials.

  • Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna is viewed favorably by 34% and unfavorably by 26%. Last year was 37% favorable and 21% unfavorable.
  • Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is viewed favorably by 42% and unfavorably by 32%, a drop from 46% favorable and 23% unfavorable in last year’s QLI.
  • Respondents had a slightly favorable view of the city councils in their cities: 37% favorable and 32% unfavorable. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is viewed more negatively: 27% favorable and 35% unfavorable.

Regarding the environment, 25% of respondents said climate change had a major impact on their quality of life in the last year; 38% saw a minor impact. The 2024 QLI also asked about the availability of air conditioning: 75% of Angelenos have it in their homes but with substantial variation by region, income and race/ethnicity.

  • Some of the differences likely relate to climate patterns: 48% of residents in the ocean-cooled South Bay communities have air conditioning compared to 92% in the hotter San Fernando Valley.
  • Residents most lacking in air conditioning, 40%, are at the lowest end of the income scale (under $30,000 per year), compared to just 11% for those making over $150,000 per year. And 30% of renters do not have air conditioning.

This year’s QLI is based on interviews conducted in English and Spanish with 1,686 county residents from Feb. 22 to March 14. The survey’s margin of error is plus or minus 3%.

Funding for the Quality of Life Index is provided by Meyer and Renee Luskin through the Los Angeles Initiative. The full report is being published April 17 as part of UCLA’s Luskin Summit.

View the report and other information about this year’s study, plus previous Quality of Life Indexes, on the website of the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies.

text with report name and a map of Los Angeles County

 

The Power of Lived Experiences Three alumni share the personal stories that impact their policy efforts on homelessness — ‘the greatest moral and humanitarian crisis of our lifetime’ 

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By Les Dunseith

Lourdes Castro Ramírez entered college as one of nine children from a tight-knit working-class family that had migrated from Mexico when she was 4. She had no idea how that background would guide her career as a policymaker focusing on housing affordability. 

“As a first-generation college graduate, I did not intend to get into this field,” Castro Ramírez recalled March 7 during a Meyer and Renee Luskin Lecture Series event that included State Sen. Caroline Menjivar MSW ’18 and Assemblymember Isaac Bryan MPP ’18. “In fact, I didn’t even know that this field existed.”

Now Castro Ramírez is the point person for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on housing and homelessness, working on an issue that has reached crisis proportions after too little national policy attention for decades.

“I do feel that there is hope. We are now finally seeing housing policy in action, getting the attention that it requires,” the 1996 UCLA urban planning master’s graduate told faculty, students, alumni and others at the Luskin Conference Center.

“Homelessness is the greatest moral and humanitarian crisis of our lifetime,” Bryan said. “We’re at a crisis position even though [California has] more billionaires than anywhere in the world. But that is the Los Angeles that we have created. 

“And it didn’t just happen. I don’t want to believe it was on purpose because it would be too painful to believe that somebody wanted tens of thousands of poor and disproportionately Black people sleeping on our streets,” he said. “I don’t want to believe that it was intentional. But neglect isn’t an excuse to not make it right.”

Bryan represents a district near the 405 and 10 freeways mostly to the east and south of UCLA that includes some of the L.A.’s wealthiest neighborhoods — and some of its poorest. He talked about the irony of needing to raise money by speaking to rich donors in the mansions of Beverly Hills and then returning to his rented apartment in a modest-but-affordable neighborhood just a few miles away. 

He has experienced housing precarity first-hand, including during his UCLA education. 

“I remember walking across the stage on graduation day. I was very proud. I was very excited,” Bryan recalled. “And there was a faculty member in the audience who knew that I couldn’t pay my rent that month. And she wrote the personal check to make sure that I could stay afloat till I found a job.”

Bryan was able to get his UCLA degree in part because he received a grant from the David Bohnett Foundation, which seeks to improve society through social activism and since 2007 has been providing awards that include a position in the L.A. Mayor’s Office for three selected fellows. Longtime adjunct instructor and UCLA Luskin Board of Advisors member Michael Fleming is the founding director of the Bohnett Foundation. He served as the moderator for a Q&A with Castro Ramírez, Bryan and Menjivar, who like Bryan is a former Bohnett fellow and a master’s degree recipient from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. All three talked about income disparity and how their personal experiences relate to affordable housing issues in California.  

Menjivar said her large family of Salvadoran immigrants struggled to make ends meet while living in one- or two-bedroom apartments in low- to middle-income communities like Tarzana. Her mother worked as a house cleaner. 

“I would commute to school and sometimes get a ride from my mom,” Menjivar recalled. “She would drop me off — her firstborn, first-generation student at UCLA, the No. 1 public university in the world — and then she would go down the street to clean a mansion.”

That perspective is never far from her mind.

“Now, I represent 1 million people in the state legislature, looking to bring more affordable housing,” said Menjivar, whose district includes Burbank and many working-class neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley. “So, when [policymakers] talk about eviction protections and housing affordability, I don’t just speak on it. I’ve lived through that.”

Their lived experiences affect the decisions that Menjivar and Bryan are making and the issues they choose to advance as elected officials in Sacramento. Both have been involved in efforts tied to their backgrounds in public policy and social services. (Menjivar noted that, like herself, Mayor Bass was educated as a social worker.) 

Lourdes Castro Ramírez spoke about her role as the chief of housing and homelessness solutions for Los Angeles.
woman in pink jacket smiles while talking with an older man whose back is to the camera
woman in pink jacket smiles while talking with an older man whose back is to the camera

In prepared remarks that preceded the panel discussion, Castro Ramírez spoke about her fondness for UCLA and why she was happy to accept the speaking invitation.

“Just walking into this space and seeing UCLA in the background, and seeing so many people I know here, just makes me really proud of my parents, where I come from and this university that invested in me,” she told an audience that included current colleagues on the Luskin School’s Board of Advisors.

It was a UCLA professor who first encouraged her to look into affordable housing as a potential career path, she said, and that led to roles as a practitioner and policymaker at the municipal level in Ventura and San Antonio, at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under the Obama administration, and later in Sacramento as Gov. Gavin Newsom’s secretary of the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency. 

“And now I’m back in L.A., back to my hometown … and working on the issues that are really important and critical to our city, to our state, and to our country as chief of housing and homelessness solutions,” she said.

Castro Ramírez spoke about harmonizing federal, state and local government efforts, a process that the mayor’s office characterizes as “locking arms” to address the housing crisis.

The overall number of people falling into homelessness continues to outpace the number who are being housed, but this is not because individual efforts have been unsuccessful. 

“In fact, there are incredible nonprofit organizations, housing authorities, housing groups who are doing amazing work,” she said, noting that a supportive housing approval process that used to take six months now takes an average of 43 days. Almost 14,000 affordable units have been approved for Los Angeles. 

“This is what the intersection of policy and programming implementation looks like, being able to move with a sense of urgency, being able to implement the idea that having a place to call home is fundamental,” Castro Ramírez said. 

Public service can be frustrating work, charged with philosophical disagreement and subject to constant second-guessing often motivated by political opportunism. Fleming asked the panel what makes the aggravation worthwhile. 

“I want to make my community, my city, my state, my country better. And that is an awesome privilege that I try to never take for granted,” said Bryan, noting that his chief of staff is another Class of 2018 UCLA Luskin graduate, Caleb Rabinowitz. “And when we walk out of the Capitol, we can kind of ask ourselves, ‘Is the state better this week because we were here?’” 

Menjivar said she is motivated by her family history. 

“My mom came to this country for a better future for her kids not knowing that the future for our family tree would lead from house cleaner to state senator in one generation,” she said.

But there have been hurdles along the way, and that’s also a motivation.

“I was born with what I call the Triple L — a lady, a Latina and a lesbian. So you can imagine I have a handful of stories around discrimination, around facing barriers and overcoming them, and I know that others helped in getting me to the point that I am now.” 

Her lived experiences are vital to her success.

“I think about every barrier that I went through to get to this point, every ‘No’ that I got, even when I was running for office. And for every “No’ that I was given, I’m here now to ensure that other people like me don’t get those ‘Nos’ anymore.”

Castro Ramírez said she is grateful to have gone “to an amazing university and to step into a role that I never thought that I was prepared to step into.”  Glancing at her fellow alumni, she continued, “And I’ve been able to see the power of our collective ability to make change and to make a difference.”

She paused for a moment, then spoke again, softly. 

“I guess the last thing — and the reason I’m hesitating is because, you know, this is a very personal reason for me — I am the mother of three children. I had a son; he was 11 years old when he passed away due to cancer. He was really an incredible, talented individual who craved … leaving his mark in this world. And that didn’t happen.

“And I feel like every day that I wake up, every day that I show up to work, show up to address the work that needs doing, I feel like I’m showing up for him.”

The UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs hosts the Luskin Lecture Series to enhance public discourse on topics relevant to the betterment of society. This presentation was also part of an ongoing series of events in the 2023-24 academic year to commemorate 25 years since the first graduating class from UCLA Luskin Public Policy was sent into the world equipped to make changes for the better.

View photos of the event. 

Luskin Lawmakers

UCLA Hosts Its Largest Activist-in-Residence Cohort Five advocates for social change will be on campus through May to ‘turn the university inside out’

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By Les Dunseith

The UCLA Activist-in-Residence program welcomed five more changemakers — the largest cohort in the program’s seven-year history — to campus with a reception Jan. 24 at DeCafe in Perloff Hall.

The UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy, which has selected at least one activist since 2017, is hosting community organizer Ron Collins II and revolutionary writer Lisa “Tiny” Gray-Garcia during this academic year. 

The UCLA Asian American Studies Center, also a longtime participant in the program, is hosting writer and social justice educator Shengxiao “Sole” Yu. 

In its second year with the Activist-in-Residence program, cityLAB-UCLA is hosting Robert A. Clarke, a designer and educator practicing at the intersection of culture, identity and architecture. 

A new addition to the program for 2024 is the UCLA Center for the Study of Women|Barbra Streisand Center, which is hosting Narges Zagub B.A. Anthropology ’20, a movement worker and facilitator.

Opening remarks for the reception were provided by UCLA Luskin Professor Ananya Roy, who created the residency program soon after arriving at UCLA as the director of the UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy. 

She conceptualized the program as a sabbatical for participants, allowing them time and space to reflect, envision new projects, and connect with UCLA faculty, students and staff. 

“More than ever, I am reminded, in these difficult times, that the residency is our effort to turn the university inside out,” Roy told the crowd. “At the Institute, we organize knowledge within, against and beyond the university. The Activist-in-Residence program brings to the university the movement scholars and public intellectuals who are teachers and guides for this praxis.”

a dozen people gathered in advance of a group photo laugh while one of them holds a dog in the foregroundStaff, faculty and friends of the UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy share a laugh together while recognizing this year’s activists. In back, from left, are César J. Ayala, Will Sens Jr., Giselle Harrell, Lisa “Tiny” Gray-Garcia, Ron Collins II, Kristy Lovich, Sam Lutzker and Marisa Lemorande; in front, Ananya Roy and Carla Orendorff are on either side of Paisley Mares, who holds a dog named Lavi.
a dozen people gathered in advance of a group photo laugh while one of them holds a dog in the foreground
a dozen people gathered in advance of a group photo laugh while one of them holds a dog in the foreground
African American man gestures as he speaks with a microphone in hand
African American man gestures as he speaks with a microphone in hand
young Asian woman smiles broadly while speaking with someone to her right
young Asian woman smiles broadly while speaking with someone to her right
the two activists pose for a photo in front of a backdrop for the UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy
the two activists pose for a photo in front of a backdrop for the UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy
woman with dark curly hair is shown in profile at a podium while speaking
woman with dark curly hair is shown in profile at a podium while speaking

Roy and other representatives of the four UCLA sponsors then introduced the individual activists, each of whom spoke briefly about their previous experiences and their plans for the next few months. 

The first activist to speak this year was Gray-Garcia, who is a formerly unhoused and incarcerated poverty scholar who prefers to keep their face covered in public. Their rousing remarks were presented in the form of spoken word poetry.

The next activist to speak was Collins, a native of South Los Angeles who is has experience as a social justice strategist and movement builder. Collins’ work advances racial and social justice with a particular focus on Black, LGBTQ and environmental justice issues.

Yu is the creator of Nectar, an online space where she provides political education and healing justice workshops. She spoke of her efforts to combat misinformation and disinformation, particularly when it targets the Chinese-speaking community such as. harmful narratives attacking affirmative action and Black-on-Asian crime tropes during the COVID pandemic.

In his work with cityLAB-UCLA, Clarke said he aims to further efforts to canonize Black aesthetics, helping to authenticate it as a lens through which to practice architecture. Clarke is co-founder of a design practice that explores ways to unearth new aesthetics specific to African American culture, experience and identity.

Narges is a UCLA alumna who gained experience in student and community organizing as part of her undergraduate activities. Their background as a Muslim, queer person from an immigrant family from Libya has helped shape their understanding of community. 

Find out more about this year’s activists and their plans.

View photos from the reception on Flickr.

Activists-in-Residence 2024

Master of Real Estate Development Receives Final Approval From UC The one-year degree program will stress instruction on the ethical underpinnings of a growing profession

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By Stan Paul and Les Dunseith

Beginning in the fall of 2025, the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs will enroll students in a new Master of Real Estate Development, or MRED, program.

“We are delighted and excited to receive approval for the MRED, which we envision as building a better future for our cities,” said Interim Dean Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, distinguished professor of urban planning. “We see the MRED as a transformative opportunity to train and diversify a new generation of real estate professionals who can best respond to the needs for more and more affordable housing, climate-adaptive and green-building technologies, and age-friendly developments.”

The Office of the President of the University of California notified the Luskin School of the degree’s final approval on Jan. 23. It has been working its way through the approval processes at UCLA and UC for about two years.

Led by Vinit Mukhija, a professor and former chair of urban planning, the program will be a one-year, full-time, self-supporting degree program that emphasizes the ethical underpinnings of a growing profession.

Mukhija said urban real estate development is “one of the most powerful forces shaping buildings, neighborhoods, cities and their suburbs, and metropolitan regions.

“From planning to finance to design, development decisions about what to build and where to build influence equity and urban sustainability in ways that are often neglected in traditional real estate development programs.”

 “Success in real estate development will require a nuanced understanding and ethical response to underlying environmental and social challenges.” —Professor Vinit Mukhija

The MRED will provide key practical skills, integrating students into real-world development projects. It will take advantage of UCLA’s location in the nation’s second-largest city, Los Angeles.

Mukhija also noted the profound role that development has in addressing global grand challenges.

“Success in real estate development will require a nuanced understanding and ethical response to underlying environmental and social challenges,” he said.

Coursework will be led by faculty experts from UCLA Urban Planning, the Anderson School of Management and UCLA Law. An inaugural class of 25 students is expected, growing to about 40 students in the program over time. 

The MRED will be a full-time (44 units minimum), primarily on-campus program spanning 11 months, with students in residence during the fall, winter and spring quarters, which is consistent with other real estate development programs in the United States. 

Applicants to the MRED program at UCLA Luskin must possess a bachelor’s degree or equivalent. At least two years of experience in real estate, urban development or a related field is preferred. 

Unlike other real estate development programs, Mukhija said the UCLA program will be distinguished with an Urban Development core requirement that situates the MRED program’s training within the broader terrain of urban governance and urban life, including the challenges and opportunities presented by concerns about equity and sustainability.

Mukhija expects that many of the applicants will be mid-career professionals who are not typically served by state-supported programs. A significant share of international applicants is anticipated, with some coming from countries with growing urbanization rates and thus facing  new challenges relating to urban growth.

In addition, the program proposes to prepare real estate development professionals who understand the fundamentals of development, as well as the context of urban development and the effect of real estate and urban development on urban life and economic opportunities.

Senate faculty will teach at least 30% of the courses, joined by distinguished and innovative real estate and urban development practitioners. These industry experts with practical experience in real estate will provide the development and experiential knowledge that is “crucial and essential for the holistic, integrative perspective that we intend to cultivate in our students,” according to the documentation prepared by UCLA Luskin in support of the program. 

Although situated within UCLA Luskin Urban Planning, coursework will also touch upon issues taught in the School’s social welfare, public policy and public affairs degree programs, which share a common thread of social justice and a desire to make society better. And the Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies based at UCLA Luskin will play a role in the research component.

In addition to conducting research on real estate and urban development, the MRED students will receive training to become real estate development professionals who can recognize and address the challenges of inclusive urbanization.

“It’s part of our mission,” Mukhija said.

Increasing Urbanization Contributes to Racial and Gender Pay Inequality, Study Shows Newly published research finds that an 'urban wage premium' in large cities primarily benefits white and male workers

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By Les Dunseith

Researchers who study cities have long documented an “urban wage premium,” whereby workers in denser, larger cities tend to have higher wage and salary incomes. But a new study by a UCLA scholar is providing fresh insight into how growing population density in urban areas contributes to pay inequalities by race and gender.

In research published this month in the Journal of Urban Affairs, Max Buchholz, a postdoctoral researcher working with Professor Michael Storper of the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, shows that this wage premium primarily benefits white and male workers, with significantly less positive impacts for Black workers, and possibly none for Latino and female workers.

Furthermore, gender-based wage inequality related to urbanization tends to be significant between men and women who have children but relatively insubstantial between men and women without children.

“My findings suggest there is something about cities that makes it particularly difficult for women to manage the dual responsibilities of child care and having a career,” Buchholz said.

He also looked at the constraints and tradeoffs that arise when urban workers balance employment opportunities with choices about housing quality and affordability, commuting and other activities. These “congestion costs” have been shown to have negative impacts disproportionately borne by women and people of color.

In particular, Buchholz found that the relationship between density and pay inequality became stronger when commute times to and from work also increased. Moreover, as urban areas get denser, commute times for Black workers and Asian American and Pacific Islander workers increase relative to white workers. But female–male commuting inequality decreases.

“This suggests that rising density doubly disadvantages Black workers with relatively lower wages and longer commutes, prompts AAPI workers to commute longer for pay that is equal to white workers, and constrains women’s access to jobs that suit their skills and qualifications,” Buchholz said.

The research was supported by a postdoctoral research fellowship from the National Science Foundation.