A Rousing Sendoff for UCLA Luskin’s Class of 2026 At dual ceremonies, State Sen. Caroline Menjivar and Century Housing president and CEO Jacqueline Waggoner call on new graduates to empower the people around them

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , , , /by

UCLA Luskin celebrated its Class of 2026 with two commencement ceremonies on June 12, one for scholars earning advanced degrees in public policy, social welfare, urban planning, and real estate development, and a second honoring students awarded the bachelor’s in public affairs.

Two distinguished UCLA Luskin alumnae served as the day’s keynote speakers.

Graduate Ceremony

California State Sen. Caroline Menjivar addressed students earning master’s and PhD degrees at a morning ceremony at UCLA’s Royce Hall. In the afternoon, Jacqueline Waggoner, a nationally recognized leader in the field of affordable housing, offered words of inspiration to Luskin undergrads at the UCLA Ackerman Grand Ballroom.

“Each of you arrived at Luskin through a different door and now are graduating ready to make a change you might have never thought possible,” said Menjivar, who earned a master’s of social welfare at UCLA Luskin as part of a long career devoted to public service.

“Whatever the reason, the commitment is the same. People matter.”

Menjivar encouraged the graduates to draw strength from their personal journeys and struggles, a lesson she has learned from her time representing 1 million Californians in Burbank and the San Fernando Valley.

“My identities as a Marine Corps veteran, a lesbian, a Latina, bring power to my voice when I am in rooms fighting for the most vulnerable communities in our state,” she said. “This is why your drive for change, and your experiences in hope and hardships, are not just your backstory. They’re your qualification.”

Undergraduate Ceremony

Jacqueline Waggoner '18 on the stage in front of a podium giving her commencement speech to the undergraduate class of 2026.

Jacqueline Waggoner, MA UP ’96

Waggoner, president and chief executive officer of Century Housing, is a double Bruin who earned her bachelor’s in sociology and master’s in urban planning and now serves on the Luskin Board of Advisors. She underscored the value of bonds forged at UCLA.

“Many Bruins remain the change agents beside me, in front of me, and having our backs,” said Waggoner, who works to expand access to dignified housing and economic stability. “They’re speaking up for the unspoken, fighting for opportunity for those in need.”

Waggoner urged graduates to take two lessons to heart as they move into the world: Truly understand your purpose in life, which will carry you through setbacks and bring deeper joy in success. And listen well to the communities you are serving.

“Leadership is not only about speaking up. It’s also about making room for others to be heard,” Waggoner said.

“When people are at the core of your drive, success is not measured by your salary, your title, or how many followers you have. It’s by the impact you have, by the people and the communities that are stronger because you showed up.”

‘We live in a world with problems, at a time of extreme polarization, conflict, and change. It is in these precise times that we expect you to shine as beacons representing values of justice, tolerance, and kindness. — UCLA Luskin Dean Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris

This year, more than 425 students earned degrees from UCLA Luskin. At the dual ceremonies, Dean Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris welcomed enthusiastic crowds of families and friends and congratulated graduates while also issuing her own call to action.

“You are taking your places in the workforce during a challenging time. Who are we as a people? What are our values? Will we make the right decisions to better all of society?

“We live in a world with problems, at a time of extreme polarization, conflict, and change,” Loukaitou-Sideris said. “It is in these precise times that we expect you to shine as beacons representing values of justice, tolerance, and kindness.”

At each commencement ceremony, students delivered greetings in different languages, 14 in all, a reflection of the school’s cultural diversity. In addition, four students were selected by their peers to offer words of inspiration: Ziwen Li of Public Policy, Ari Zeen of Real Estate Development, Genesis Garcia of Social Welfare, Luis Valente of Urban Planning, and Thomas Contreras of the Undergraduate Program.

Following each ceremony, graduates and guests gathered at outdoor receptions to take photos and offer congratulations to UCLA Luskin’s newest alumni.

Watch the graduate ceremony on YouTube and view photos on Flickr and Grad Images.

UCLA Luskin Graduate Commencement 2026

 

Watch the undergraduate ceremony on YouTube and view photos on Flickr and Grad Images.

UCLA Luskin Undergraduate Commencement 2026

Hope Is Hard Work: Laphonza Butler Delivered Call to Action on Building Power From the Ground Up At the annual Luskin Summit, the former U.S. senator joined 400 scholars, students, and leaders in search for lasting equity and well-being

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , , , , /by

Former U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler brought a message of resiliency and resolve to more than 400 scholars, students, community leaders, and elected officials who came together at UCLA last week to take on California’s most entrenched problems.

“Too many Californians, too many Angelenos, are not OK,” Butler told the crowd gathered for the eighth annual UCLA Luskin Summit on April 15. But she added, “The people in this room, the communities that you serve, have already proven that change is possible. …

“I keep returning to this one thing that sustains me: It’s that hope is not a joyful feeling. Hope, UCLA, is hard work.”

Butler, who served as a labor leader, political advisor and UC regent before joining the U.S. Senate in 2023 to complete the term of the late Dianne Feinstein, delivered the keynote address following a morning centered on strengthening resilience and equity at the local level.

Sharing Research and Solutions

Researchers from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs teamed up with difference-makers in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to share the latest advances in four areas of concern:

  • California’s housing strategy, including the state’s new zoning rules aimed at making shelter more affordable
  • Environmental health and justice, including the impact of extreme heat as L.A. hosts a series of mega-events, and the toll plastic pollution takes on vulnerable communities
  • Transportation security, including new strategies for elevating security, trust, and comfort among public transit riders
  • Socioeconomic vulnerability, including strategies to bridge intergenerational inequities, and regulatory tools that can be used to promote more inclusive growth

Launched in 2019, the UCLA Luskin Summit provides a bridge between academia, policymakers, and civil society, with the goal of finding evidence-based solutions to California’s most pressing concerns. This year’s gathering highlighted recent research from the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies, UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies, and departments of Public Policy, Social Welfare, and Urban Planning.

Master of Urban Planning student O’Philia Le said she chose to attend the summit to learn how UCLA Luskin research is put into practice in the world.

“A key takeaway for me was that large-scale racial justice and global environmental impacts really start with local solutions. However, those solutions don’t just happen on their own,” she said.

“They require political pressure, community engagement, and an intentional push to actually move forward. As an aspiring planner, I believe that this is key to the work that we do.”

three men in suits sitting on stage

From left, ABC7’s Josh Haskell, Miguel Santana of the California Community Foundation, and Zev Yaroslavsky of UCLA Luskin’s Los Angeles Initiative review results from the 2026 Quality of Life Index. Photo by Michael Troxell

Quality of Life Index Reveals Growing Strain

The summit also hosted the release of this year’s UCLA Quality of Life Index (QLI), a project of the Luskin School’s Los Angeles Initiative, directed by Zev Yaroslavsky. The survey found that Los Angeles County residents’ satisfaction with their lives has hit the lowest level in the QLI’s 11-year history.

“We’ve been through a lot in the last five years: COVID; punishing increases in the cost of living; last year’s catastrophic fires, the worst natural disaster in the history of this city; tariffs; and this year the destabilizing implementation of the Trump administration’s immigration sweeps, which started right here in our own back yard,” he said. “All of these have taken their toll on virtually every aspect of our lives in every part of our region.”

Cost of living continues to be the single biggest driver of residents’ quality of life, though its rating declined from 2025, according to the survey. Among the 1,400 Los Angeles County residents polled in March, housing affordability remained the dominant concern, while rising costs for utilities, groceries, and taxes were cited more frequently than in prior years.

Ratings fell across nearly every category compared with last year, with six areas reaching their lowest levels since the survey began in 2016: education, transportation and traffic, jobs and the economy, public safety, neighborhood conditions, and relations among different races, ethnicities, and religions.

A Call to Action for the Next Generation

In her remarks, Butler also addressed the sobering results of the QLI.

“Every year the Quality of Life Index holds up a mirror to Los Angeles County,” she said. “And every year, it asks us to be brave enough to look in that mirror.”

She stressed, however, that “alongside every data point of strain, there’s a counter story, one that doesn’t get enough attention — the story that happens when people organize, when coalitions hold, when accountability is real.”

To the service-minded students in the room, she issued a call to action, echoing the summit’s theme of empowering local communities. Some of them would go to Washington and some to Sacramento, where they are desperately needed, she said.

“But some of you — hear me — need to go to places that don’t make headlines. To neighborhoods where the data actually lives, to communities where the stakes are immediate, not to study them but to be accountable to them. …

“The communities most impacted by vulnerability are also most engaged in building solutions. … Survival demands participation.”

UCLA Luskin professor Veronica Herrera introduces a session on plastic pollution before a standing-room-only audience. Photo by Mary Braswell
Men and women listening to speaker
Men and women listening to speaker
Three people in conversation
Three people in conversation

View more photos from the 2026 UCLA Luskin Summit on Flickr.

Two New Faculty Members Join UCLA Luskin Department of Public Policy

/0 Comments/in , , , , /by

This fall, the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs welcomes two new assistant professors to its Department of Public Policy: Isaac Opper and Carlo Medici. Both scholars are economists who use empirical research and data-driven methods to explore policy-relevant questions that shape education, labor markets, and public institutions.

“We are excited to have recruited two extremely talented economists who we expect will not only contribute to scholarly research but also contribute to informing policy,” says Robert Fairlie, professor and chair of the public policy department. “They are both studying topics of utmost relevance. Students in our program and more broadly at UCLA will benefit from their expertise in microeconomics, statistics, and policy topics around immigration, labor, education, and other topics.”

Isaac Opper, an applied microeconomist, focuses on education policy and the statistical methods used to evaluate its effectiveness. “My largest body of work studies how education policy can be designed to improve student outcomes,” he said. This year, he will teach required statistics courses for both undergraduate Public Affairs and Master of Public Policy students. Opper added that he’s eager to “move from evaluating specific policy interventions to thinking more broadly about public policy,” continuing a career devoted to evidence-based reform. 

Carlo Medici, whose expertise spans labor economics, political economy, and economic history, studies the interaction between immigration, labor markets, and institutions. “I’m especially looking forward to working with colleagues and students who are passionate about how institutions and policies shape the economy,” Medici said. His research draws on both contemporary and historical data to illuminate the roots of modern policy challenges. 

Rising Temperatures Cause Students to Underperform Across the World UCLA’s Edith de Guzman highlights how overheated classrooms are widening educational inequities.

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , , , /by

An article published in the Los Angeles Times quotes Edith de Guzman, a climate researcher at UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation, highlighting how rising temperatures are undermining students’ ability to learn—particularly in underserved communities. A comprehensive review, analyzing data from 14.5 million students across 61 countries, found that heat exposure reduces cognitive performance, especially in complex subjects like math. Even moderately warm days, between 80 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, impair students’ attention, memory, and focus.

Heat doesn’t affect all students equally. Black, Latino, and low-income students experience up to three to four times more learning loss from heat exposure compared to white and affluent peers. This disparity is largely due to inequalities in infrastructure—many under-resourced schools lack adequate air conditioning, shade, or green space, making classrooms unbearably hot during warmer months.

“As classroom temperatures rise over time — especially during extended heat waves or in schools with less shade, poorer insulation and lacking access to air conditioning — students tend to show declines in attention, memory and test performance,” said Edith de Guzman, a climate researcher at UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation. Heat can also affect students’ abilities to enjoy outdoor recreational activities, having serious effects on their physical, mental and social well-being, she said.

The study also found that these effects are cumulative, with heat exposure throughout the school year having a greater impact on learning than just exam-day temperatures. Simple solutions—such as air conditioning, improved ventilation, and increasing tree canopy around schools—can dramatically reduce heat-related learning loss. However, many schools lack the funding to implement these upgrades.

Indonesia’s Democratization at a Crossroads: BGI Report Highlights Rising Challenges Despite robust economic gains and improved public goods provision, Indonesia faces mounting hurdles in governance.

/0 Comments/in , , , , , /by

The newest BGI report reveals striking insights for Indonesia, which faces complex governance dynamics as an archipelagic state and the country with the largest global Muslim population. Achieving full democratization proves a challenge for Indonesia, with the BGI report revealing a decline in democratic accountability. State capacity measures appear to remain stagnant, despite the country experiencing significant economic growth. However, this trend is not uncommon to its Southeast Asian neighbors- illustrating that Indonesia must continue to invest its economic gains in state capacity. Public goods provision has significantly increased, but the country’s complex regional governance system may prove a challenge to maintaining these gains. As Indonesia accelerates its development, it must face these challenges head-on– struggles which have been amplified due to authoritarian tendencies, crippling regional inequality, geopolitical challenges, and struggles with trade diversification as it emerges as a leader on the global stage.

Read the full report here.

Underpaying and Overusing Our Roads: The True Cost of Driving UCLA Luskin’s Mike Manville is challenging how we think about traffic, housing, and fairness.

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , , , , , , /by

by Peaches Chung

If you’ve ever been stuck in gridlock traffic on the 405 or circled the block looking for parking in L.A., you’ve experienced the kinds of problems Michael Manville has spent years researching and trying to solve. As professor and chair of urban planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, Manville is reshaping how we think about transportation and housing in a sprawling city like Los Angeles and turning his research into real-world impact.

At the center of Manville’s transportation research is a deceptively simple idea: the way we price things matters and how we price things shapes how we use them.

” Driving costs less than it should, because the full social costs of driving, like congestion, pollution, infrastructure wear, aren’t reflected in what we pay to use our roads.”

“Driving is too cheap, and housing is too expensive,” he says. “Driving isn’t cheap in the absolute sense of the word ‘cheap’ because cars aren’t cheap and gas isn’t free, but in the sense that it costs less than it should, because the full social costs of driving, like congestion, pollution, infrastructure wear, aren’t reflected in what we pay to use our roads.” The price of housing, meanwhile, is driven up by restrictive land-use policies that limit supply.

Manville’s first introduction into urban planning began in a newsroom while covering transportation and housing topics as a local reporter. When the newspaper he worked for went bankrupt, he joined the local planning commission. Eager to turn his newfound passion into a career, he enrolled in the urban planning master’s degree program at UCLA and after a summer as a research assistant, decided to pursue a Ph.D. Today, he leads the department that jumpstarted his second career.

Building on the groundbreaking work of his mentor Donald Shoup, former UCLA urban planning professor and pioneer in parking reform who famously argued that free or underpriced parking distorts urban development, Manville and many other experts in the field have expanded this logic more broadly, emphasizing that it’s not just parking that’s mispriced, it’s also the roads themselves.

One proven strategy to address this is congestion pricing, a transportation policy that charges drivers a fee to use certain roads during peak traffic times. A controversial idea that has gained some traction in recent years, the goal primarily is to improve traffic flow and lower pollution, although it can also generate revenue for public transit and infrastructure.

It’s the idea that using roads during peak times should come with a price, just like electricity or water. “We meter every other government-owned utility,” Manville explains, “but not roads.” “It’s the only system that we don’t charge prices for, and it’s not a coincidence that it’s the only system that colossally breaks down about two times a day.” Manville argues that the same basic principle we apply to everything else in our economy, pricing goods and services based on demand, should also apply to road usage.

“We meter every other government-owned utility, but not our roads. It’s the only system that we don’t charge prices for, and it’s not a coincidence that it’s the only system that colossally breaks down about two times a day.”

Cities like Singapore prove it can work. In Singapore, dynamic tolling keeps traffic flowing at 45–55 mph even in a city as densely populated as San Francisco. Manville argues that Los Angeles could reap similar benefits if it embraced the idea. “We’ve normalized the dysfunction of our transportation system,” he says. “But there’s nothing inherently fair about free roads, or unfair about charging for their use.”

For Manville, reimagining cities isn’t just about policy; it’s about turning research into practical, real-world implementation. At UCLA Luskin, he says, that happens through teaching the next generation of planners, working directly with policymakers, and ensuring research is more accessible to community members. “The biggest impact we can have,” he explains, “is making sure our students leave with the ability to weigh tradeoffs—not chase perfect solutions.”

When asked what he hopes for the next generation of urban planners who will be tasked to solve some of the most complicated issues our cities face today, Manville had some wisdom from his own experience as a young planner.

“I came to UCLA convinced there were a bunch of right answers,” he reflects. “But the biggest lesson I’ve learned, and hope to pass on, is that progress comes from understanding the nuance and complexity of the issues we hope to solve. In a city as vast and diverse as L.A., differing perspectives are inevitable and real change begins with listening, especially to those you may not agree with.”

D.C. Tops L.A. for Worst Traffic in the U.S. in New Report Mike Manville explains how traffic congestion signals economic growth and how unregulated road access worsens it.

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , /by

According to a new MSN report based on Consumer Affairs data, Washington, D.C. now ranks as the city with the worst traffic in the U.S., overtaking Los Angeles.The average commute time in D.C. is 33.4 minutes, edging out L.A., which now holds the No. 2 spot. While Los Angeles still leads in total weekday congestion hours (7 hours and 51 minutes), D.C. follows closely with 6 hours and 35 minutes.

Experts suggest that increased congestion may indicate a thriving economy. Professor and chair of the urban planning department Michael Manville explains that areas with economic opportunity attract more residents, and keeps current residents because of opportunities.

“Because we don’t do anything to regulate access, the roads in an area with a booming economy become overloaded and congested,” Manville added.

The exact causes of D.C.’s worsening traffic remain uncertain but could include a return to office mandates under recent federal policies. In contrast, cities with the least traffic include Rochester, Salt Lake City, Cleveland, Hartford, and St. Louis.

Rebuilding for Resilience: Minjee Kim on Post-Fire Urban Planning In the Building Better Cities podcast, Minjee Kim discusses how the aftermath of L.A.’s wildfires presents a chance to reimagine recovery—through sustainable, equitable, and long-term urban planning.

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , , , /by

Dr. Minjee Kim, assistant professor of urban planning at UCLA Luskin, was featured on the Building Better Cities podcast in the episode titled “Who Rebuilds LA? Planning Post-Fire Recovery with Dr. Minjee Kim.” In the wake of the devastating LA wildfires, Kim presents this disaster as an opportunity to rethink how cities rebuild with long-term resiliency in mind. “The L.A. fires presented the opportunity to think large scale,” she says. “I see the Los Angeles fires that happened as an opportunity to think about urban planning and development in the long term… in terms of resiliency and fire resiliency, but also in terms of what is a good sustainable form of urban development.”

In conversation with host Kate Gasparro, Kim discusses how post-disaster recovery can serve as a launchpad for long-term, equitable urban planning—if supported by the right governance structures. Drawing from her research and experience advising the L.A. County Blue Ribbon Commission on post-fire recovery, she explores potential models for regional redevelopment agencies, citing examples from San Francisco, New York City, and Cincinnati.

Minjee Kim Weighs In on the Rise of Gated Communities in the U.S. In a recent CNBC feature, Prof. Kim weighs on the growing rise of popularity in gated communities across America.

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , /by

Dr. Minjee Kim, assistant professor of urban planning, was featured in CNBC’s “Why Americans Keep Moving Into Gated Communities,” which aired on July 18. The segment explores the growing trend of Americans choosing to live behind gates and walls, driven largely by a desire for safety, stability, and control in uncertain times.

Kim highlights that gated communities are often marketed not just as secure, but as exclusive and desirable. “The whole point of creating HOAs and possibly gating, is to create that location premium,” she explains. “You are essentially creating this marketing that this place is a desirable place to live. You’re paying a premium to live in a homogenous environment.”

While residents may be drawn by the promise of safety and order, the broader societal impacts are more complex. Gated communities can deepen economic and racial segregation, divert resources away from public infrastructure, and contribute to social fragmentation by isolating residents from the wider civic community.

Watch the full feature here.