Archive for category: For Students

UCLA Partners With New Independent Commission for Climate-Resilient Fire Recovery Experts will provide L.A. civic leaders with research-informed policy options for building safer, more resilient communities

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By Jason Islas

Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk announced that UCLA will provide its world-class research expertise and programmatic support to an independent commission tasked with developing policy recommendations to guide a safe and resilient recovery for Los Angeles in the wake of the 2025 wildfires.

“The commission we are announcing is a terrific example of our university and its partners in the region working together,” Frenk said at a Feb. 13 news conference. “UCLA is not just a university in Los Angeles. It is a university of Los Angeles. Today’s blue-ribbon commission answers that call to action, and we are pleased to partner with Supervisor Horvath on this important initiative.”

“Los Angeles County cannot afford to simply rebuild what was lost — we must build for the future,” Horvath said. “This is our opportunity to rethink how we design communities, fortify infrastructure, and protect lives from the growing threats of the climate crisis. The blue-ribbon commission will ensure that we lead the way in creating fire-safe, climate-resilient communities that will stand for generations. Our communities are invited into this process led by Los Angeles’ leading experts across academia, urban design and sustainability, environmental justice, housing and finance.”

UCLA’s advisors will be led by Megan Mullin, faculty director of the Luskin Center for Innovation, in consultation with Julia Stein, deputy director for the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA School of Law, and in partnership with Alex Hall, director of the Sustainable LA Grand Challenge. They will marshal UCLA’s expertise to bring objective, research-informed insights and innovative options to a commission of more than a dozen respected civic leaders, chaired by Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator CEO Matt Peterson, to inform their policy recommendations for L.A.’s future.

“Our region has always lived with fire, but our communities weren’t built for the climate-induced mega-fires we see now,” Mullin said. “We have a short window of opportunity to not only rebuild homes and businesses but also to create more resilient and equitable communities.”

The commission will develop recommendations focused on:

  • Fire-safe reconstruction: Implementing fire-resistant materials, defensible space strategies and climate-smart building standards.
  • Resilient infrastructure: Undergrounding utilities, expanding water storage and conveyance, and hardening power grids.
  • Faster rebuilding: Identifying resilient home designs and systems that could be pre-approved to expedite reconstruction, and offering financial incentives to support rebuilding.
  • Equitable recovery: Reducing the risk of displacement, ensuring affordable insurance and prioritizing support for vulnerable communities.

“An uncoordinated race to rebuild will amplify inequality and leave people at risk of future fires. This commission seeks to change that with thoughtful, data-driven policy solutions to build resilient communities for the future we’re facing,” Mullin said.

Hall, who launched the Climate and Wildfire Research Initiative through the Sustainable LA Grand Challenge to develop knowledge, tools and new modes of thinking to confront Southern California’s rapidly evolving wildfire challenge, said, “Los Angeles is at a turning point. This commission is a generational opportunity for UCLA to provide L.A. civic leaders with the expert knowledge — drawn from years of rigorous research — they need to create the policies that will shape the region for decades to come.”

“The world is watching to see how L.A. comes back from these devastating fires; it is hard to overstate the historic importance of this moment — and the role our university will play,” Hall said.

Participating UCLA faculty include:

  • Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment: Mary Nichols
  • Luskin School of Public Affairs: Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, Evelyn Blumenberg, Greg Pierce, Mike Lens, Paul Ong, Minjee Kim, Liz Koslov
  • School of Architecture and Urban Design: Dana Cuff, Stephanie Landregan
  • Ziman Center for Real Estate: Stuart Gabriel
  • Institute of the Environment and Sustainability: Stephanie Pincetl, Aradhna Tripati
  • UCLA Labor Center: Saba Waheed
  • Fielding School of Public Health: Wendy Slusser

A portion of this effort is supported by a grant from the California Community Foundation and in-kind support from UCLA.

In Memoriam: Donald Shoup, Renowned UCLA Urban Planner and Parking Reform Pioneer Legendary Luskin professor, parking 'guru' and global figure in transportation and land use planning sparked a dedicated following of enthusiasts known as 'Shoupistas'

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By Stan Paul

Donald Shoup, distinguished professor emeritus of urban planning, whose decades of teaching and scholarship at UCLA greatly influenced the field of land-use planning as well as generations of scholars, students and urban planners, died following a short illness on February 6, 2025, in Los Angeles. He was 86.

Shoup, a titan in the field of urban planning and specifically parking reform, is renowned for his pathbreaking research into how cities manage, or mismanage, parking spaces. This work, which demonstrated that seemingly mundane provisions in zoning codes had rendered many places overly dependent on driving, brought him academic accolades and made him an unlikely hero for a generation of urbanists determined to repair American cities. 

Among planners, government officials and activists, he became known as “UCLA’s parking guru,” a “parking rock star” and the “Shoup Dogg.” A Facebook group, thousands strong, sprung up organically to help spread his message. He even found his way into pop culture, as the subject of a YouTube animated feature on the television show “Adam Ruins Everything.”

Shoup was born in Long Beach in 1938 and earned his PhD in economics in 1968 at Yale University, where he also received master’s and bachelor’s degrees in economics and a BE in electrical engineering. He came to UCLA’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs in 1968 as a postdoctoral scholar and research economist — the same year as Harvey S. Perloff, the founding dean of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning. 

Donald Shoup’s social media bios described him as “Professor of Urban Planning at UCLA. Saving the world one parking space at a time.” Photo by Les Dunseith

Following his two-year appointment, Shoup taught at the University of Michigan but returned to UCLA in 1974 as an associate professor of urban planning, becoming a full professor in 1980. 

During his time at UCLA, he chaired the Department of Urban Planning, directed the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies, and also held appointments and visiting and honorary scholar posts at several academic institutions, including Cambridge University, the University of Hawaii, the University of Buffalo, and the Beijing Transportation Research Center.  In 1993, he was invited to the White House in recognition of his research on employer-paid parking. From 2009-2017, he served as editor of the University of California’s ACCESS magazine. He retired from UCLA in 2015 as a distinguished professor.

Over the course of his career, Shoup won numerous awards. He was a fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners, a select group of professional planners nominated by their peers in recognition of their “significant and transformational improvements to the field of planning and the communities they served.” In 2017, he received the Distinguished Educator Award from the Associated Collegiate Schools of Planning. The award, presented biennially, is the highest honor bestowed by the organization in appreciation of significant contributions that have made a difference to planning scholarship, education and practice. 

In 2021, he received the Dickson Emeritus Professorship Award honoring outstanding research, scholarly work, teaching and/or educational service performed at UCLA by an emeritus or emerita professor since retirement. 

Much of this prestige flowed from Shoup’s landmark book, “The High Cost of Free Parking,” which was first published in 2005. The book was the culmination of decades of his work and research on parking reform and parking as the link between land use and transportation.

Revised in 2011, “The High Cost of Free Parking”  has been translated into multiple languages, including Chinese, Russian, Romanian and Persian, and recorded as an audiobook. The book argues that cities make two crucial mistakes regarding parking. First, they fail to price the parking on their streets, and as a result curb spaces fill up and become hard to find. Second, to solve the problem they have created on the street, cities force into existence, through their zoning codes, excessive amounts of parking off street. In combination, these two errors compound each other. They lead cities to quietly subsidize cars, increase traffic congestion, worsen air pollution, encourage sprawl, degrade urban design, damage the economy, raise housing costs, reduce walkability, accelerate global warming, and make urban life more difficult for people who do not drive. 

Shoup’s proposed solution was to reverse these mistakes: start pricing the parking on-street, and stop requiring it off-street. The book became a classic in urban planning circles. Shoup wrote with wry wit and charm, and chose clarity over academic jargon, making it accessible. As a result, Shoup’s reform ideas gained steady acceptance in cities worldwide. The Parking Reform Network, a national nonprofit founded to advance Shoup’s ideas, has documented over 3,000 cities that have adopted some of his suggested reforms.  

In 2018, the American Planning Association included the publication of “The High Cost of Free Parking” in its timeline of key events in American city planning since 1900. Other books in this timeline included Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” and Jane Jacobs’ “Death and Life of Great American Cities.” A follow-up book that he edited, “Parking and the City” also became a vital resource for reformers; the planning website Planetizen included it in its list of top-10 books published in 2018.

Despite his retirement, Shoup was still a very active member of the UCLA Luskin community. He could often be seen in the corridors of the Luskin building or at the ITS offices. He was also scheduled to teach his famous parking class in the spring 2025 quarter.

He is survived by his wife Pat Shoup, brother Frank Shoup, his niece Allison Shoup, nephew Elliot Shoup, Elliot’s wife Megan and their three children.

Read more about Donald Shoup’s vast accomplishments and share your memories at this Tribute Page.

Tribute gifts in Don’s memory can be made to the Donald and Pat Shoup Endowed Fellowship Fund in Urban Planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, which will support fellowships for graduate students focusing on transportation studies. Gifts can also be made by check payable to the UCLA Foundation. Please include “Fund #82172E” in the memo field and mail to: The UCLA Foundation; PO Box 7145; Pasadena, CA 91109-9903

Mapping a Just Way Forward for L.A. As Los Angeles grapples with the impact of catastrophic fires, experts in public affairs provide context and insight

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Experts from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs are providing context and insight to news outlets covering Los Angeles’ catastrophic wildfires and the road to recovery. Here is a selection of their comments:

  • Liz Koslov, assistant professor of urban planning, on the need for humane and reasonable policies for recovery after the fires: “Rather than dream we can retreat our way out of the crisis, we must relearn, and learn anew, how to live with fire.” — New York Times     |     More from Koslov:  Bloomberg, Irish Times, The City
  • Megan Mullin, professor of public policy and faculty director of the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, on the importance of setting community-driven priorities for post-fire recovery: “Without forethought and without coordination, we’re going to risk a rebuild that amplifies the region’s inequality.” — Marketplace     |     More from Mullin:  Vox
  • Paul Ong, director of the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge, on the challenges of recovery in diverse neighborhoods: “Altadena is a litmus test about how committed we are to racial justice.” —  CBS Evening News      |     More from Pierce:  Los Angeles Times
  • Veronica Terriquez, professor of urban planning and director of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, on the loss of Chicano historian Juan Gómez-Quiñones’s archives in the Palisades fire: “The loss of his papers, the loss of other people’s archives. … We’re losing something really precious.” — Los Angeles Times
  • Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, interim dean of the Luskin School and distinguished professor of urban planning, on the inequalities arising from Southern California car culture, including wildfire risks heightened by climate change: Smog-producing cars became so central to life in the region because of “transportation policy that has quite favored the automobile and given a tremendous amount of investment to build the freeways.” — The Atlantic
  • Michael Manville, chair of UCLA Luskin Urban Planning, on the fires’ stressors on the Southern California housing market: “The upshot is that a lot of people who had been housed — who do have, for the most part, strong incomes — have just been thrust into the housing market, and they’re going to push up prices and rents, and also compete for contractors in an already tight labor market to get things rebuilt.”  — Commercial Observer    |    More from Manville:  Reason, New York Times
  • Chhandara Pech, deputy director of the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge, on research showing that language barriers prevented some Asian American residents from easily accessing emergency information during the fires: “Government agencies should not only focus on reaching the largest population that’s affected by the wildfires, but it should also prioritize supporting the most vulnerable and hard-to-reach communities.” — Los Angeles Times
  • Paavo Monkkonen, professor of urban planning and public policy, on streamlining the bureaucracy of home-building, a reform long-sought by affordable housing advocates and now coming to pass only in fire-affected areas: “Now suddenly we’re going to get it — but just for this.”  — New York Times     |    More from Monkkonen:   Libération
  • Michael Lens, professor of urban planning and public policy, on L.A.’s elevated housing prices: “Folks who haven’t had to really think about where they’re going to live next — who may have been living in, fortunately, stable housing situations for the last couple decades — are going to see a lot of sticker shock.” — LAist    |     More from Lens:  Los Angeles Times, Fortune
  • José Loya, assistant professor of urban planning, on the likelihood that more affordable housing options can be found farther from the fire zones: “L.A. is still a very, very large place.” — Los Angeles Times, Washington Post
  • Stephen Commins, associate director of Global Public Affairs at UCLA Luskin, on the challenge of cleaning up homes and neighborhoods: “Every home has potential hazards — from older homes with asbestos to any home that contained paint cans, lithium batteries and other standard but toxic when incinerated household items.” — UCLA Newsroom
  • Zev Yaroslavsky, veteran public servant and director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin, on the city’s preparations for the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics: “What we cannot allow to happen is for the Olympics to take away the government’s attention from the most important thing, which is to rebuild after the fire.” — New York Times      |     More from Yaroslavsky:  L.A. Times Today, New York Times
  • Adam Millard-Ball, director of the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies, on disconnected streets and disaster preparedness: “We’re seeing that the least-connected streets are in places that have historically been affected by fire. We know that the places that have burned in the past are also likely to burn in the future, and that’s true even in urbanized areas as well.” — Bloomberg     |     More from Millard-Ball:  Streetsblog, Next City
  • Minjee Kim, assistant professor of urban planning, on political rhetoric surrounding government requirements for rebuilding damaged or destroyed homes: “For any rebuilding that needs to happen, there shouldn’t be any additional ‘development permit’ that needs to be secured.” — Politico

 

UCLA ITS Funds Research on Vulnerable Communities, L.A. Fire Response Five projects will explore transportation challenges and community engagement in disaster recovery

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California has long battled wildfires, but the scale and impact of recent fires have pushed emergency response systems to their limits. The fires that broke out in Los Angeles County in January presented new challenges as flames reached deeper into urban areas.

As recovery efforts begin, the fires have highlighted critical gaps in our region’s emergency response and transportation systems, especially for vulnerable communities. To assess and understand these challenges, the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies is funding five rapid-response research projects, with results expected within one to three months:

  • Understanding mobility challenges for vulnerable communities with limited vehicle access — Tierra Bills, UCLA assistant professor of public policy and civil and environmental engineering
  • Improving evacuation plans for transit riders — Madeline Brozen, deputy director of the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
  • Bridging gaps in evacuation and resilience strategies for older adults with disabilities — Yeonsu Song, UCLA assistant professor of nursing and medicine
  • Exploring community-driven approaches to infrastructure rebuilding — Megan Mullin, faculty director of the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation
  • Strengthening street network resilience after disasters — John Gahbauer, UCLA ITS research consultant

The studies aim to support policymakers, transit agencies, emergency planners and local communities in shaping a more equitable and resilient approach to disaster response in the Los Angeles region.

UCLA ITS Director Adam Millard-Ball noted that the wildfire threat in Los Angeles is not going away. “We’re supporting research that can help us to be prepared for a future emergency, and to plan for rebuilding in an equitable, resilient manner,” Millard-Ball said.

Read full descriptions of the projects on the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies site

View more fire-related research from the Luskin School

 

Former Greek Prime Minister Cites Roles of Innovation and Imagination in Democracy George Papandreou's UCLA visit includes a briefing on wildfire management with Luskin scholars

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By Sean Brenner

Drawing vivid comparisons and contrasts between democracy’s standing in the world today and its origins in ancient Greece, George Papandreou outlined a vision for preserving and protecting citizens’ role in governance amid a global rise in authoritarianism.

Papandreou, who served as Greece’s prime minister from 2009 to 2011, spoke Jan. 22 at the UCLA Luskin Conference Center. He proposed the need for a “new democratic social contract.”

“If democracy is under siege, we must not merely defend it; we must reimagine it,” he said. “The challenges of climate change, inequality and technology demand innovation in governance.”

Papandreou, whose father, Andreas, and grandfather, Georgios, both also served as prime minister of Greece, enumerated a series of measures he said could help strengthen democracy. Among them: banning unlimited corporate donations to lobbyists, restoring democratic education in public service media, introducing wealth taxes on billionaires and requiring full transparency in political advertising.

“These are some ideas,” Papandreou said. “But politics in the way the ancients taught it was not what we have today, with polling, tweeting, soundbites and looking for donors. It was actually to expand their imagination of a better future. The ancient Greeks said, ‘We don’t need tyrants to tell us what to do. We don’t need monarchs or kings or high priests. We can decide our future. Therefore, we can imagine a better future.’

“So politics, which means being a good citizen, means that we can collectively think of a better future. … Let’s open our imagination. Let’s be open to new ideas.”

woman with dark hair and glasses at podium

UCLA Luskin’s Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris cites George Papandreou’s support for “progressive democratic policies within and beyond the boundary of Greece.” Photo by Vince Bucci Photography

Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, interim dean of the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, introduced Papandreou, citing his passion for progressive democratic policies, deep commitment to global cooperation, and belief that governments are responsible for protecting the environment.

During his UCLA visit, Papandreou held a separate meeting on the urgent issue of wildfire management with Loukaitou-Sideris; Liz Koslov, an assistant professor of urban planning who specializes in climate justice; and Nicole Lambrou, who received her PhD in urban planning at UCLA Luskin and is now an assistant professor at Cal Poly Pomona.

At his public talk, Papandreou expressed sympathy for Angelenos who have been affected by the wildfires.

“I stand here before you with a heavy heart, as in recent days you have witnessed the horror of entire neighborhoods reduced to ash, lives uprooted, dreams turned to smoke,” he said, relating the experience to his having witnessed severe fires and floods destroy homes and natural habitats in Greece. “No words can truly capture the anguish of watching the place you call home disappear in flames.”

The talk was organized by the UCLA Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for the Study of Hellenic Culture, and sponsored in part by the UCLA College Division of Humanities and Division of Social Sciences, and the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.

In her opening remarks, Sharon Gerstel, director of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center, highlighted its role as a nexus for intellectual and cultural programming based in a city that boasts a large and dynamic population of Greeks and Greek Americans.

Gerstel presented Papandreou with Greek and English versions of “Weaving Dreams: Kilims from Geraki, Laconia,” a book she co-edited that examines the history of textile art in the Greek village of Geraki.

Among the dignitaries in attendance were Christina Valassopolou, consul general of Greece in Los Angeles, and Andreas Kyprianides, honorary consul general of Cyprus in Los Angeles.

Watch the full lecture on the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center’s YouTube channel

UCLA Launches New Master of Real Estate Development Program Greg Morrow, a real estate professional, educator and UCLA alumnus, will lead the Luskin School-based initiative

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UCLA is launching a master of real estate development program, or MRED, which combines the resources of America’s top-ranked public university with hands-on learning from industry leaders in one of the world’s most dynamic real estate markets and learning labs.

The one-year UCLA Luskin MRED is a new kind of real estate program, distinguished by unprecedented collaboration with industry leaders and opportunities for students to apply their academic training to real-world challenges through case studies, site visits and competitions. Mentoring, internship and networking opportunities will give them further access to innovative thinkers and workplace experiences to enhance their career prospects.

The MRED program’s cutting-edge curriculum integrates academic and experiential learning to equip students with both the analytical and practical skills to succeed in a range of careers and a big-picture understanding of the real estate industry’s power to create meaningful community impact.

UCLA has appointed Greg Morrow, a real estate professional and educator who founded UC Berkeley’s MRED+Design program, to lead the new UCLA program. Morrow earned master’s degrees in city planning and architecture from MIT and a doctorate in urban planning from UCLA.

Headshot of a man with glasses

Greg Morrow

“I’m thrilled to be back in L.A. to launch an MRED program that is unlike any other in content, outlook and emphasis on real estate’s central role in shaping society,” Morrow said. “Working with our industry partners, we aim to cultivate future leaders who have superb professional skills and a deep understanding of socioeconomic and policy issues in order to create more livable, resilient, equitable communities.”

MRED students will study under and work alongside accomplished professionals, including developers, lenders, private equity investors, real estate and land use lawyers, affordable housing officials, policy leaders, architects, builders, construction executives, planners and innovators in sustainability. These industry experts helped design the curriculum and will teach most of the classes.

“We’re teaming up with UCLA’s faculty to ensure that students gain the essential skills to succeed in whichever real estate field they choose,” said Alex Rose, executive vice president for development at Continental Development Corp. and a member of UCLA Luskin’s board of advisors. “From day one, graduates of the UCLA Luskin MRED program will have the tools to contribute not just to their employers but to make a difference in their communities as well.”

The interdisciplinary program is housed in the Luskin School of Public Affairs’ urban planning department and will include courses in the Anderson School of Management, UCLA Law and other departments across the university. Students will also have access to broad real estate expertise at UCLA through the Ziman Center for Real Estate, Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies and the innovative cityLab research center in the department of architecture and urban design.

The new program reflects the University of California’s effort to establish educational paths that address specific workforce needs. In addition to nuts-and-bolts real estate competencies, MRED students will be exposed to the latest trends in real estate —  from AI and new design paradigms to advanced construction techniques and financing tools. The program will also address key issues of affordability, equity, sustainability and how development interacts with larger urban development systems.

The curriculum is designed to develop students’ critical thinking, teamwork, communication and problem-solving skills, which are also essential for success in the workplace.

“Los Angeles is an ideal city in which to study real estate,” said Cecilia Estolano, a member of the Luskin board of advisors and a leading expert on contemporary urban planning issues with experience in economic and workforce development, land use, environmental equity and urban revitalization. “We have a diverse economy, dynamic neighborhoods and a range of real estate problems requiring bold, innovative, systemic solutions. UCLA’s MRED will challenge students to situate real estate development in a broader policy context.”

A cultural trendsetter that welcomes reinvention, Los Angeles is undergoing an ambitious urban transformation, including major housing and transit initiatives, as it prepares to host the 2026 World Cup, the 2027 Super Bowl and the 2028 Summer Olympics.

“Los Angeles has proven to be a laboratory marked by innovations that become models for the nation,” said Andy Cohen, co-chair of the Gensler design and architecture firm. “UCLA is at the heart of this global metropolis, giving students in this important new program front-line access to learn from the best so they can shape the real estate industry and build a better future for our cities — locally and internationally.”

“Luskin is a powerful platform that seeks to educate and challenge change-makers to tackle pressing societal issues,” said Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, interim dean of UCLA Luskin. “The new master in real estate program is a perfect fit for Luskin. We can’t wait to welcome our first class next year.”

The program is designed for applicants from diverse fields, within and outside real estate, and backgrounds.

“UCLA is a global brand that attracts leading scholars, students and industry partners and has a devoted international alumni network,” Morrow said. “By leveraging the best of UCLA and its alumni, the UCLA Luskin MRED program will build a global brand in real estate. Our graduates will not only change the industry but also change the face of real estate.”

New UCLA Certificate Program Meets Opportunity and Challenge of Big Data UCLA Luskin and University Extension are collaborating on a graduate-level program offering in-demand skills to a wide range of students

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By Stan Paul

Big data is here and UCLA Luskin is ready.

With the expansion of digital technologies for big data collection and analysis over the past two decades, new opportunities have been created for professionals in the larger policy arena. With this in mind, UCLA Luskin and UCLA University Extension have developed a collaborative certificate program that has been approved by UCLA’s Academic Senate.

The new program, Data Analytics for Public Affairs, won unanimous approval during the November joint meeting of the university’s Academic Senate Graduate and Undergraduate councils, UCLA Luskin Interim Dean Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris announced.

“It’s really exciting. We realized there is a lot of demand from mid-career professionals to develop analytic skills,” said Zachary Steinert-Threlkeld, associate professor of public policy and political science, who has accepted the interim dean’s request to serve as the director for the certificate. “We have put together an excellent program that gives them the opportunity to do that.”

At the same time, program planners recognized that these opportunities come with a number of risks and ethical dimensions that all professionals should be aware of, specifically privacy, the reliability of big data and unequal access to the internet.

New methodologies have emerged for data collection, analysis and visualization, and the Luskin School already offers a Data Analytics Certificate for its policy, planning and social welfare graduate students. But these new skills were not part of the education of professionals who completed their degrees even a few years ago.

Steinert-Threlkeld, who initiated the data analytics certificate program at the Luskin School and has served as the faculty lead, said that a bit of data analysis went into the decision to pursue this new venture. A survey launched to gauge interest in such a program directed questions at those who might be interested in adding data analytics to their skillsets as well as at supervisors who would find a benefit in having employees with these skills.

“We had over 300 responses, so that gave us confidence that there is strong demand for this certificate,” said Steinert-Threlkeld, who was part of a faculty committee assessing the initiative, led by Loukaitou-Sideris.

The program as envisioned in the committee proposal is designed to “attract and produce diverse cohorts of students interested in data analytics that can help enhance their understanding of big data and how they can be collected and analyzed, the ethical/social justice dimensions of big data, and how big data may apply to their professional practice.”

Housed at a school known for its emphasis on diversity and social justice, the program intends to “do better than other institutions in attracting a very diverse student body” and to “develop a broader perspective on data analytics courses designed to benefit a wide range of students,” the proposal says.

The program’s focus on public affairs also is designed to help it stand out from other UCLA Extension offerings. The graduate-level certificate, like other UCLA Extension programs, is open enrollment but targeted at those with prior academic experience, preferably a bachelor’s degree.

Four core courses will be required, including an overview of a variety of advanced technologies and their relevance to 21st-century governance and community development. Another course will examine ethical issues raised by the use of big data and data analytics for governance and community development projects. Topics to be explored include the tension between using data for the public good and protecting individual privacy.

A required data visualization course will allow students to explore approaches to communicating the value and impact of data to stakeholders at different organizational levels. The fourth course requirement is a data science course with two options: an introduction to programming and data science or a geographic information system (GIS) and spatial data analysis class.

Two optional electives included in the program are an introductory statistics class and an urban data science offering.

A launch date for the program has not yet been established but, said Steinert-Threlkeld, “Everyone in the school recognizes the demand for it and the benefit it will give to the enrollees, as well as to the School. We certainly think this will be received well and hope there’s very strong demand.”

‘People-Powered’ Campaign Elevates UCLA Luskin Alum’s Election Bid Bryan ‘Bubba’ Fish wins Culver City Council seat after knocking on doors — lots of them

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By Stan Paul

Bryan “Bubba” Fish, a 2024 master of public policy graduate from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, is one of the latest Luskin grads to become an elected official, winning a Culver City Council seat in the November election.

Following graduation in June, Fish didn’t have time to rest on his laurels or take a vacation. The 33-year-old, winner of the “booked and busy” title by his fellow graduates, stepped out of Royce Hall in cap and gown, diploma in hand — in the middle of a competitive campaign that overlapped with the last two quarters of his public policy studies.

While juggling all of that, Fish, who concentrated on urban policy in his graduate studies, also worked in government affairs at the Los Angeles Department of Transportation before moving to his current job as a transportation deputy for Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn.

“As soon as I graduated, the campaign really ramped up. I basically got no break — the campaign just took over everything,” Fish said. He’s grateful now to be focused on work and serving as a council member.

Fish described his campaign as “people-powered,” with a lot of canvassing neighborhoods and knocking on doors. He recalls a politics of policymaking course led by UCLA Luskin Associate Professor Darin Christensen, where he saw a number of studies that showed “what works in policymaking and what doesn’t … and how do you know what really moves the needle in an election.”

Fish takes the oath of office at a Dec. 9 ceremony.

There is little evidence that the cavalcade of flyers dropping through mail slots during campaign season does much, Fish said. But “there’s a ton of evidence that walking and the candidate specifically meeting people is what moves the needle, and that’s what we did,” he said. “I walked every single weekend since March — so 32 weekends in a row.”

He ended up knocking on thousands of doors and making plenty of personal contact. Of the 20,000 doors his campaign reached, Fish said he personally accounts for a fifth, or 4,000: “I think it made all the difference. … We literally met so many people, and they shared our vision.”

Fish said he’s thankful for the classmates who helped out with his campaign, adding that he wished he had had more time to spend with them while at UCLA.

“They were really wonderful and supportive,” he said. “A lot of them came to my kickoff, and some of them came to the election night party, too.”

The new councilman, who was sworn in on Dec. 9 at Culver City Hall, said he ran on three main priorities, including housing for people of all incomes.

“We have built very little housing in Culver City” — only 400 multifamily units in a city of 40,000 people — since before he moved to California in 2009, he said. Fish grew up in Houston and came west on a scholarship to the University of Southern California, where he majored in film and TV production.

Fish is currently a renter in the city he now represents. He says when he came to Culver City, he got really involved: “I created Culver City Pride here, the first Pride celebration in the city’s history, and I got really involved in housing advocacy here, trying to get more affordable housing in the city because the city has built so little housing.”

His second priority is mobility — specifically creating healthy streets and climate resiliency across the Los Angeles region, which is also a top concern for him as a transportation professional. He focused the third prong of his campaign on public safety.

“We saw this backlash in California,” Fish said, referring to a rolling back of criminal justice reform and return to “a philosophy that has failed time and time again, expanding prisons, doubling down on incarceration. It hasn’t served us.”

And, he said, “We saw our leadership, our council majority for the last couple of years, not really relying on policy as a science, not really relying on data to make certain decisions. It was more about reacting.”

Fish is interested in creating a budget that is “rooted in care” and says Culver City is at the precipice of creating new systems that he is excited about, such as a mobile crisis team, “health and housing professionals that will go to you.”

“I’m so grateful to Luskin for giving me the tools that I needed to run a successful campaign and make change,” said Fish, adding that his connection to faculty and classmates were key to his run.

“I don’t think I would have won without them,” he said. “I don’t think I’d be in a position to do what I hope to be able to accomplish.”

Read about other UCLA Luskin Public Policy alumni elected to office in November.

Training Youth to Turn Their Passion Into Action Undergrad Fiona Lu advocates for economic justice by forming strategic coalitions, including with UCLA Luskin alumni

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By Mary Braswell

UCLA Luskin undergrad Fiona Lu entered the world of political activism while still in high school, moved by the realization that students like her could effect real change — with the right tools and strategies. Her vision is already paying off with legislative success, including the recent passage of a California law expanding access to menstrual products.

“Your experience as a community member is all you need to be a policy advocate,” says Lu. “You don’t need to have a prestigious degree — what you see in your community matters.”

With the dual goals of advancing economic justice and training other young people to maximize their political impact, Lu co-founded the advocacy organization What We All Deserve in November 2023. The group’s outreach to California lawmakers included two UCLA Luskin alumni, Assemblyman Isaac Bryan MPP ’22 and Sen. Caroline Menjivar MSW ’22, who authored and co-authored AB 1810.

The new law ensures that the state’s incarcerated population has unimpeded access to menstrual products, addressing what Bryan called a “gross abuse of power” in jails, prisons and juvenile facilities, where period products were at times withheld in an atmosphere of coercion, humiliation or harassment.

“It’s an issue at the intersection of gender rights, reproductive rights, but also poverty,” says Lu, a second-year student with plans to major in Public Affairs and Labor Studies and minor in Asian American Studies.

two young women at podium

Lu, right, and Esther Lau, co-founders of the What We All Deserve advocacy group. Photo by Monet Oganesian

AB 1810 is one of two What We All Deserve-supported bills that have been enacted, and two more are in the pipeline. In recognition of its impact, the group was recently awarded a $25,000 grant from an Allstate Foundation initiative to support youth empowerment.

Lu says her activism is shaped in part by the help that she, her mother and her 7-year-old brother have received through government assistance programs.

“I was a free lunch kid. And I still benefit from a lot of support systems the state of California and the federal government provide, like the Pell Grant and the Cal Grant,” Lu says.

“These support systems are so, so crucial, not just for people who are impoverished but also for people who might be going through a period of unemployment. Your economic circumstances can affect your physical and mental health and the type of life you think can be possible for you.”

Before launching her own advocacy venture, Lu was active in student-powered organizations such as Gen-Up and California High School Democrats, where she learned tangible ways to turn policy priorities into action. Key among those is building alliances with elected officials.

Last year, when What We All Deserve was working on the proposal that would become AB 1810, Lu reached out to Bryan.

“He has a such a robust background in criminal justice advocacy, and we were really glad that he was able to champion this idea,” she said.

Her first contact with Menjivar came years before, when Lu was a junior in high school. Menjivar had just been elected to represent a San Fernando Valley district in the state Senate, and Lu felt she would be the perfect author of another bill, still pending, that would make menstrual products affordable for low-income Californians.

“Sen. Menjivar is a social worker, and she knows how much access to basic needs affects your health and your overall well-being,” says Lu. “So I contacted her office and said, ‘We have this really cool policy idea. I would love it if we could meet with you.’ And she said yes.

“We really want to let young people know that sometimes it’s just that easy.”

Menjivar said that, as a state senator, she has prioritized authoring youth-serving and youth-led bills, and Lu is one of her strongest legislative collaborators.

“Not only a pleasure to work with, Fiona also has a pivotal voice that’s deeply knowledgeable on the issues young people face today,” says Menjivar.

“She is a determined leader in grassroots advocacy, including building the youth coalitions that are so important to our future, and I’ve absolutely loved every opportunity we’ve had to work together.”

Through What We All Deserve, Lu and co-founder Esther Lau are sharing these strategies for forging effective alliances with youth across California and now Texas and New York.

“A lot of times, young people think they have to have policy expertise or technical data or something super hardcore to speak to the people we elect,” Lu says. “But they’re supposed to represent your voices, and you’re supposed to feel comfortable talking to them. So that’s a big part of what we’re trying to demystify.”

Lu applied to UCLA as a Public Affairs pre-major because of its emphasis on social change.

“It’s a really unique program. We’ve already established that there is inequality in the U.S., in California, in our own communities. But in these classes, we’re asking, how can we work toward rectifying that? And how can we find policy solutions that are grounded in community values?”

She honed her advocacy skills during UCLA’s summer internship program in Washington, D.C. And at the invitation of Social Welfare Professor Laura Wray-Lake, Lu addressed an international youth conference hosted by UCLA Luskin last spring and beamed to an audience of 720,000 people worldwide.

Lu says her work is motivated in large part by the brother she is helping to raise.

“Watching my brother grow up has helped me really ground my anti-poverty work in this idea that children deserve this,” she says. “All children are not born in the same circumstances. But all of them deserve to thrive.”

This story appears in the 2025 issue of Luskin Forum magazine, coming soon in print and online.

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.