UCLA Grants Deepen Ties to the L.A. Community Projects by Luskin faculty will build collaboration among scholars, students and local partners

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The first goal of UCLA’s Strategic Plan is deepening collaborations and connections with Los Angeles. This academic year, several UCLA Luskin faculty are helping the university meet that mark.

As recipients of grants from the UCLA Center for Community Engagement, these faculty will explore ways to strengthen ties between community partners and UCLA students and scholars, with the goal of finding solutions to L.A.’s most pressing issues.

This year, the UCLA Community-Engaged Research Grants will fund exploratory projects including:

Achieving and Implementing Abolition in Los Angeles

Co-Principal Investigators: David C. Turner III, assistant professor of social welfare, and Kelly Lytle Hernandez, professor of history, African American studies and urban planning

Community Partners: Justice LA; Check the Sheriff’s Coalition; Police-Free LAUSD Coalition; People’s Budget LA Coalition; PUSH LA Coalition; LA Youth Uprising Coalition

Million Dollar Hoods is a UCLA research project that advances the labors of activists and advocates working to change how public dollars are spent in Los Angeles. In particular, it advances the work of those seeking to reduce criminal justice budgets while expanding health services, housing options, welfare benefits and employment opportunities. This grant will fund a deep strategic planning and research process focused on implementing community-led policy initiatives that reallocate public resources to supporting human-centered services.

Aligning Housing Policy With Popular Demand for More Housing

Co-Principal Investigators: Zachary Steinert-Threlkeld, associate professor of public policy, and Paavo Monkkonen, professor of urban planning and public policy

Community Partner: Abundant Housing Los Angeles

Angelenos understand the scarcity of housing and want to see more constructed. According to a November 2020 survey by the Los Angeles Department of City Planning, 64% of Angelenos call increasing housing supply a top or high priority. Support for more housing is one of the few bipartisan policy issues in the country, yet new housing construction in Los Angeles remains at multi-decade lows and rents and housing prices continue to rise. Untangling this puzzle is the focus of this community research.

Building Urban Soil Networks in Los Angeles for Research and Action

Co-Principal Investigators: Kirsten Schwarz, associate professor of urban planning and environmental health sciences, and Jennifer Jay, professor of civil and environmental engineering

Community Partners: TreePeople; Physicians for Social Responsibility – LA; Communities for a Better Environment; Watts Labor Community Action Committee – Better Watts Initiative

Urban soils are an important regional and national equity concern that shape the health and well-being of urban dwellers. They also represent a paradox of sorts, as contaminated soils are a hazard and clean soils are beneficial to the ecosystem. This project brings together community groups active in urban soils work in the L.A. region to build relationships, identify potential collaborations, and begin the process of coalescing around a common set of research priorities and actions.

Building Worker Power: Support for Low-Wage Worker Leadership With the Los Angeles Worker Center Network

Co-Principal Investigators: Chris Zepeda-Millan, associate professor of public policy, Chicano/a and Central American studies and political science, and chair of UCLA’s Labor Studies program; and Tobias Higbie, professor of history and director of the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment

Community Partners: Los Angeles Worker Center Network, including: CLEAN CarWash Worker Center; Garment Worker Center; Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance; Los Angeles Black Worker Center; Pilipino Workers Center; Restaurant Opportunities Center Los Angeles; Warehouse Workers Resource Center

The UCLA Labor Center, a founding member of the Los Angeles Worker Center Network, seeks to document best practices around multi-racial, multi-industry, multi-language organizing in support of labor standards, immigrant rights and anti-discrimination enforcement. In this project, researchers and worker centers will determine the best methods — such as popular education, storytelling, academic journals and social media — to document successful and replicable L.A. worker campaigns since 2009. They will also implement legal clinics and provide technical assistance to local agencies enforcing fair labor laws.

Healing Within While Incarcerated: The Role of Credible Messengers in Transformative Justice in L.A. County

Co-Principal Investigators: Lauren Ng, assistant professor of psychology, and Laura Abrams, professor of social welfare

Community Partner: Healing Dialogue and Action

Incarcerated youth experience a multitude of poor social, emotional and physical health outcomes after detention. To address these concerns, Los Angeles County has adopted a “rehabilitative, care-first model” of juvenile justice that is being implemented by Credible Messengers — leaders with the lived experience of incarceration. There has been limited academic collaboration investigating Credible Messenger programs. This partnership with an organization working in county juvenile justice facilities will advance the science behind the Credible Messenger approach with the aim of promoting healing of justice-involved youth.

Housing and Homelessness Justice Research Collaborative

Co-Principal Investigators: Chris Herring, assistant professor of sociology, and Ananya Roy, professor of urban planning, social welfare and geography

Community Partners: LA Tenants Union; Union de Vecinos

This grant supports a recently established collaborative partnership between UCLA faculty and the Downtown local of the LA Tenants Union. The funds will allow the partners to broaden a study of Los Angeles’ Permanent Supportive Housing initiative to address homelessness. Despite billions of dollars recently committed to this initiative, no research to date has examined its success or weaknesses. The UCLA grant will allow additional community partners to participate and aid the collaborative in envisioning a multi-year tenant justice research agenda.

Interdisciplinary Center on Housing and Homelessness

Co-Principal Investigators: Till von Wachter, professor of economics; Michael Lens, professor of urban planning and public policy; and Elizabeth Bromley, professor in residence of psychiatry and anthropology

Community Partners: Individual community members; Los Angeles Homelessness Services Authority; L.A. County Department of Health Services; L.A. County Department of Mental Health; L.A. County Department of Social Services

L.A.’s housing and homelessness crises are caused by a complex web of factors ranging from lack of housing production and zoning policies to structural racism in labor markets and justice systems. This project focuses on developing an interdisciplinary center that brings research communities together with people with lived experience of homelessness and policymakers from Los Angeles government and nonprofit agencies. The project emphasizes structural reforms needed to reduce homelessness and aims to inform the public debate by replacing misconceptions with data and research.

Previous awards from the UCLA Center for Community Engagement supported the development of two courses designed to immerse undergraduates in community-engaged research. The grants went to Associate Professor of Public Policy Meredith Phillips, who developed a course on data analysis for educational research, and Associate Professor of Social Welfare Lené Levy-Storms, who developed a course on human aging through an interdisciplinary lens.

Read about all of the 2024-25 Community-Engaged Research Exploratory Grants.

Rapid Research Provides Vital Context to Address L.A. Wildfires UCLA Luskin data informs recovery efforts and counters misinformation during times of crisis

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By Stan Paul

During a natural disaster such as the recent devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, information is needed — in real time — to assess and predict what will be required to help and rebuild communities. That information can be vital to address practical problems, to answer questions and even to counter false narratives that were fanned and spread as fast as the flames that destroyed entire neighborhoods.

That’s where UCLA Luskin and its research centers come in. In addition to responding to media and becoming a go-to source for expertise from day one of the fires, researchers quickly collaborated with their campus colleagues and beyond to create rapid responses to address pressing issues in the moment.

Rapid Response and Luskin’s Legacy of Community-Based Research

UCLA Luskin has a long legacy of community research. Even before L.A.’s most recent disaster, the School’s researchers have worked to collect and analyze data on issues that impact neighborhoods, individuals and businesses, especially those on the margins.

For researchers in the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge (CNK) and the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute (LPPI), information is needed to help communities they know well. For them, it’s personal.

Silvia González, LPPI’s director of research, said the concept of rapid research response really grew during the COVID-19 pandemic. The institute was very proactive in providing data for policymakers and community-based organizations working to prioritize equitable recovery in any type of disaster or crisis.

“We learned from COVID-19 that people of color are not well represented in data points that inform crisis response. … That is where our community gets left behind in terms of getting their needs met,” González said.

pine sprout on burned ground

Read more about the rapid research produced by UCLA Luskin scholars to understand the causes and impacts of Los Angeles’ catastrophic fires at luskin.ucla.edu/fire-research

These communities have needs that are different from the broader community, including a higher exposure to environmental hazards, language barriers, and disproportionate health, economic and social risks, she said. “And so that really was the motivation for responding with original research on the L.A. wildfires.”

A team, including Paul Ong, research professor and director of CNK; Chhandara Pech, the center’s deputy director; and other contributors from LPPI, the UCLA Asian American Studies Center and the UCLA Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, produced a number of key research projects.

Among them was a data brief examining the impacts of wildfires on Black households in Altadena, a historically Black, middle-class and culturally vibrant community that was devastated by the January 2025 Eaton fire. The brief provides a starting point for considering what an equitable recovery should include, the researchers said.

It also provides new information on the historical trajectory of Altadena’s Black community and the impacts from the wildfires, using multiple data sources. Using existing trends in the Altadena housing market and Black settlement patterns, combined with damage and destruction created by the Eaton fire, the researchers were able to demonstrate the disproportionate impact of the fires on Black households in that community.

The report also underscores the urgent need for disaster response and long-term recovery efforts tailored to the unique needs of Altadena’s Black community, the researchers wrote.

“Altadena is a litmus test about how committed we are to racial justice,” Ong said in an interview with CBS Evening News in February.

This is also true of Latino communities. In another research project, Ong and his team note that wildfires in California are not just a seasonal concern, but have far-reaching effects that go beyond the burn zones.

Together with CNK, the LPPI research team plans to develop ongoing analyses that examine the short- and long-term consequences of the wildfires on Latino communities with a focus on health vulnerabilities, economic disruptions and gaps in preparedness.

“As researchers of color, the pandemic showed us the invisibility of our community in data … but it also helped train us to do this research now,” said Pech, adding that the team wants to ensure that elected officials have a clear and more nuanced understanding of the wildfires’ impacts across different racial and socioeconomic groups.

“One of the things we do know is that these events are very complex. They’re embedded in complex structures,” Ong added. “So, part of what we try to do is understand some of the hidden dimensions of this complexity. We try to understand the rippling effects, a sort of cascade, beyond the most immediate and obvious impacts.”

Wildfires, Water and Transportation

Rapid response from other areas of Luskin, as well as cross-campus partners, include expertise on water and climate from the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation (LCI). At the same time, experts from the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies and UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies quickly initiated research projects while providing media with context about how transportation planning plays a role in how communities and regions can plan for disaster.

Research projects include:

  • 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 Lewis Center
  • 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 LCI
  • Strengthening street network resilience after disasters — John Gahbauer, UCLA ITS research consultant

“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,” said UCLA ITS Director Adam Millard-Ball, emphasizing that the wildfire threat in Los Angeles is not going away.

In January 2025, Millard-Ball and a team of UCLA researchers published an article in the journal Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives that lays out a collaborative approach that puts people and equity at the center of transportation research. One section identifies auto dependency as a challenge for cities.

“Dependence on cars … leaves cities vulnerable to crises,” the researchers write. “For example, it leaves few options for evacuation in case of fuel shortages or road blockages, or for people who do not drive.” During the L.A. fires, that was a reality that could be seen in news coverage of abandoned and burned vehicles.

Media and Misinformation

From the beginning of the fires, Greg Pierce, LCI’s co-executive director and the director of UCLA’s Human Right to Water Solutions Lab, responded to media outlets looking for facts behind emerging narratives. False and misguided fire story frameworks spread out of control, so in addition to quickly responding to news outlets, Pierce and his team provided a Question and Answer resource for the media and public.

A common question was, “Can urban water supply systems put out wildfires?” The quick answer is no. “Urban water supply systems are not designed to fight large wildfires or large-scale fires that start in wildland areas and spread to urban areas,” according to the Q&A.

“I don’t know that any place in the world has a system like that,” said Pierce, who explained to media that such a system for fighting wildfires would be extremely expensive as well as come with potentially negative climate impacts that could create further fire risks.

Pierce became the de facto go-to expert for media outlets including POLITICO, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, Reuters and LAist on the wildfires and related issues such as water.

The fires touched almost every aspect of living in Los Angeles, from cars, work and land use to housing and rent — and UCLA Luskin had researchers on hand to respond.

Liz Koslov, assistant professor of urban planning and an expert on climate retreat, told the New York Times, “Rather than dream we can retreat our way out of the crisis, we must relearn, and learn anew, how to live with fire.”

Michael Manville, chair and professor of Urban Planning, commented in the media, saying, ‘The upshot is that a lot of people who had been housed … 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.”

Environmental issues also intersected with health for those affected by smoke from the fires. According to a recent UCLA report, smoke produced by California wildfires kills more people than fire, with thousands of premature deaths attributable to exposure to toxic particles. Rachel Connolly, a project director at LCI, served as the lead author of the study published in the journal Science Advances.

Recovery and the Road Ahead

UCLA Luskin researchers are also partnering with local government for the long recovery ahead, leading research for a blue ribbon commission launched by Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath.

Horvath and UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk announced that UCLA will provide its world-class research expertise and programmatic support to the independent commission tasked with developing policy recommendations to guide a safe and resilient recovery.

Mullin, the LCI faculty director, is leading UCLA’s advisors in consultation with Julia Stein, deputy director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA School of Law, and in partnership with Alex Hall, director of UCLA’s Sustainable LA Grand Challenge.

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

In addition, this year’s Luskin Summit quickly pivoted to focus on the L.A. fires. The summit will provide policymakers and nonprofit leaders with the latest research and guidance from UCLA Luskin experts, community groups and government agencies to guide the effort to expedite recovery equitably.

In the years ahead, the work of UCLA Luskin researchers will continue to be an important resource as Los Angeles and the region recover.

A First-Hand Look at How a Public Affairs Education Translates Into Real Action The second annual UCLA Luskin Sacramento Briefing immerses students into research that shapes policy

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This year, UCLA Luskin hosted the 2nd Annual Sacramento Briefing, an event that informs state legislators of the breadth of research happening within the school. The gathering featured two panel discussions coordinated by esteemed UCLA Luskin faculty members and their affiliated research centers in collaboration with elected officials, government agencies and other policy experts. This year, the Institute of Transportation Studies presented on reducing vehicle miles traveled on California’s roads, and the Luskin Center for Innovation presented on creating heat-resilient communities. 

Ten public affairs undergraduate students and 14 master of urban planning students received scholarships to attend the briefing, and also meet with legislative staffers, receive a private tour of the Capitol building, and sit down with Assemblymembers Mike Fong and Josh Hoover, both UCLA alumni.

We asked Mai Vu, a public affairs major who will be graduating this June, to reflect on her experience as part of the first undergraduate cohort to attend the event. Next year, Mai will be working in-house in the private sector for a global consumer goods company, focusing on government and regulatory affairs.

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By Mai Vu

The 2025 Luskin Sacramento Briefing was an eye-opening experience that brought policy to life in ways I hadn’t imagined. As part of the first cohort of Public Affairs undergraduate students to receive a travel grant for this two-day professional development event, I had the opportunity to step inside the heart of California’s state government and witness firsthand how decisions are made at the state level. More importantly, I was able to connect with UCLA alumni — now staffers, policymakers and legislative aides at the state Capitol — who had once been in my shoes and could share their experiences and career paths from Westwood to Sacramento in a way that felt especially relatable.

“As a student researcher, this experience challenged me to think about how I can ensure my own work is accessible, actionable and relevant beyond the academic setting,” says Luskin undergrad Mai Vu.

Engaging with State Governance

On our first day in Sacramento, we met with UCLA alumni at the Capitol who discussed their work in state policymaking. Sitting in the very spaces where decisions are made, I saw how the issues we study in Public Affairs — from infrastructure to education — translate into real governance. Touring the Assembly and Senate galleries reinforced this connection, as we engaged with elected officials, policy analysts and professionals in administrative and judicial roles, making me realize the many pathways into state government and broadening my perspective on career opportunities in Sacramento.

Like many of my peers at Luskin, I am drawn to public service by the desire to create meaningful change. My time in Sacramento showed me how state government can be a direct and impactful avenue for that work, particularly in my home state of California. Speaking with policymakers and legislative staff, I gained a clearer understanding of how California’s Legislature functions within the broader political landscape and how it differs from the intense partisanship that often defines U.S. politics.

While political divisions certainly exist, my discussions in Sacramento helped me realize that California’s legislative majority allows for a greater focus on policy implementation rather than ideological debate, leading to more effective governance. This became clear in our discussion with Assemblymember Josh Hoover, who explained how working in the Republican minority requires a strong focus on bipartisan collaboration. His approach to coalition-building challenged my assumptions about politics, reminding me that progress relies more on negotiation, adaptation and shared priorities than strict party alignment.

Equally inspiring was our meeting with Assemblymember Mike Fong and his chief of staff, Sophia Kwong Kim, who spoke about their roles in the California Asian & Pacific Islander (API) Legislative Caucus. As a Vietnamese American student interested in government, seeing leaders who not only shared my API background but were actively working to amplify API voices in policy and create pathways for diverse representation was incredibly meaningful.

Bridging Academia, Policy and Local Communities

The second day’s policy briefing challenged me to think more critically about how research translates into action. As an undergraduate student researcher, it was particularly meaningful to see UCLA faculty — many of whom have taught my classes — present their work in front of legislators and policy practitioners. It reinforced that academic research doesn’t exist in isolation; when framed effectively, it has real-world implications. One of the biggest lessons I learned was that there is real benefit in research, no matter how rigorous or theory-driven, being communicated in a way that policymakers and the public can engage with. As a student researcher, this experience challenged me to think about how I can ensure my own work is accessible, actionable and relevant beyond the academic setting.

Another key takeaway I had from the policy briefing was realizing the power of collaborating beyond just my immediate peers. Seeing faculty, policymakers and community stakeholders engage in discussions — not always agreeing, but always exchanging perspectives — was a reminder that policymaking is rarely black and white. It requires negotiation, compromise and an open acknowledgement of competing priorities.

As I prepare to graduate and begin my career in regulatory and government affairs for the private sector, this experience reaffirmed the importance of cross-sector collaboration. The briefing exposed me to a range of perspectives — from legislators to policy researchers and advocacy groups — mirroring the diverse stakeholder landscape I will navigate. Like policymakers balancing competing priorities, I will need to negotiate between corporate interests, regulatory requirements and public concerns. This experience also provided an early foundation in state government processes and expanded my UCLA network, making future opportunities in public policy, consulting or regulatory agencies more accessible.

 

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

A Celebratory Welcome to UCLA Luskin The entire School community gathers to make connections and launch the new academic year

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This year’s UCLA Luskin Welcome Week opened with the exciting announcement that UCLA has, for the eighth consecutive year, been named the No. 1 public university in the United States.

The news set a celebratory tone for a series of Luskin School events welcoming students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends back to campus to kick off the 2024-2025 academic year.

An orientation for graduate students brought public policy, social welfare and urban planning students together to learn about resources provided by the university and the Luskin School.

The undergraduate program hosted a luncheon for majors, pre-majors and students interested in learning more about the bachelor of arts in public affairs.

And the Block Party tradition continued for the 13th year, with the entire UCLA Luskin community gathering to make connections, learn about opportunities and organizations, enjoy the flavors of Los Angeles and greet the School’s benefactors, Meyer and Renee Luskin.

View photos from:

Graduate Student Orientation

UCLA Luskin Orientation 2024

Undergraduate Open House 

UCLA Luskin Undergraduate Open House 2024

13th Annual UCLA Luskin Block Party

UCLA Luskin Block Party 2024

View More Block Party Images from Stay Golden Photobooth

 

Luskin School Adds 2 Tenure-Track Faculty Social Welfare scholar focuses on health equity and race, while Urban Planning addition has experience in real estate development and land use policy

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By Stan Paul

Two new additions have joined UCLA Luskin’s faculty this summer, bringing research experience and teaching expertise to its graduate and undergraduate programs.

Sicong “Summer” Sun, most recently at the School of Social Welfare at the University of Kansas, is UCLA Luskin Social Welfare’s newest assistant professor. Minjee Kim, previously in Florida State University’s department of urban and regional planning, is a new assistant professor in urban planning.

Laura Abrams, professor and outgoing chair of Social Welfare, announced Sun’s appointment. “Summer is conducting critical work on the intersections of poverty, race and health and will add greatly to our mission of advancing knowledge, practice and policy for a just society,” she said.

Sun studied at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, earning a doctorate and a master’s degree in social welfare, with a concentration in social and economic development and a specialization in research.

Their areas of interest include health equity and social determinants of health, race, ethnicity and immigration, as well as poverty, inequality and social mobility. One example of Sun’s work — the subject of their dissertation — is racial and ethnic differences in the relationship between wealth and health.

“My recent projects have been investigating how the relationship between wealth and health differ by race and ethnicity, how structural conditions shape people’s differential access to resources, thereby impacting their health and well-being,” Sun explained.

In addition to doing research, Sun will be teaching a graduate course this fall on the foundations of social welfare policy, followed in winter with a course on human behavior in the social environment focused on theoretical perspectives in social work and social welfare.

“I’m excited to expand my research, collaborate with colleagues across disciplines, and work with and learn from local community partners. I’m also looking forward to teaching and mentoring students,” Sun said. “I heard UCLA students are very passionate and smart, with many ideas to change the world. I’m eager to engage with them in the classroom, and support their research, practice and careers.”

Kim previously worked as an architect in Korea on projects from offices and buildings to parks, pavilions and master plans for new towns, turning to a career in academia upon developing an interest in public policy and planning. She earned master’s and doctoral degrees in urban planning at MIT.

“I really wanted to have a greater influence than standalone buildings or projects, which is what really got me interested in public policy as well as planning,” she said.

While pursuing her graduate degrees, she worked for the city of Cambridge as a research associate for the Community Development Department, and then at the development review unit at Boston’s Planning and Development Agency.

Kim began to realize how planning and real estate can have a synergistic relationship when working in these city departments. “I observed first-hand that when planners have an understanding of the real estate development process and the economics of it, they can use the tools under their belts to collaborate and negotiate with developers to identify solutions that can push real estate development towards more equitable outcomes,” Kim said.

Michael Manville, professor and chair of Urban Planning, said Kim’s diverse skill set will add value to the Design and Development concentration within Luskin Urban Planning, as well as to the new Master of Real Estate Development (MRED) program.

Kim’s vision for real estate development brings about positive change to historically marginalized communities. This is an approach that stands in sharp contrast to the historical practice of real estate development, which had been a tool for race and class exclusion, displacement and residential segregation. A new breed of equitable and socially responsible projects, Kim said, “can reduce the existing socioeconomic inequalities that have been created and perpetuated by past real estate development practices.”

Fittingly, Kim will be teaching graduate courses on public/private development and site planning, which will be about how planners, urban designers and developers can work together to identify creative solutions for building equitable, socially responsive and redemptive development projects. She will also teach a graduate course on zoning for equity, which she has taught previously as part of a multi-campus course in conjunction with Paavo Monkkonen, a UCLA Luskin professor of urban planning and public policy. In addition to these graduate courses, Kim will instruct students in the undergraduate major in public affairs.

“Minjee has already established herself as a productive scholar working at the intersection of land use regulation, real estate development and housing, so we’re thrilled to bring her on board,” Manville said.

‘Tell Your Story in Your Own Words, So That No One Tells It For You’ A commencement message of empathy and resilience for UCLA Luskin’s Class of 2024

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“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, let’s go together.”

Paco Retana, a leading voice in community mental health, invoked this African proverb as he called on UCLA Luskin’s Class of 2024 to embrace a spirit of compassion and collaboration as they set out to put their educations to work.

“In a world increasingly divided by conflict, inequality and environmental crisis, love and respect are more essential than ever before,” Retana told the gathered graduates at two commencement ceremonies on June 14.

“Together, you have the potential to create a tapestry of positive change that is richer and more vibrant than anything you could achieve alone.”

Retana spoke to public policy, social welfare and urban planning scholars earning master’s and doctoral degrees at a morning ceremony at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Later in the day, he addressed students awarded the bachelor of public affairs at the Grand Ballroom in Ackerman Union.

“The superpower you all have — resilience, corazon, heart — has been the key to navigating life’s inevitable challenges and setbacks,” said Retana, who shared his own background to underscore the point.

Born in Pico Rivera to working-class parents who emigrated from Mexico and Costa Rica, Retana was labeled an underperformer in school. But he went on to become the first in his family to attend college, earning two UCLA degrees: a bachelor’s in psychology in 1987 and a master’s in social welfare in 1990.

For more than three decades, Retana has served Los Angeles’ vulnerable youth and marginalized communities and is now chief program officer at the nonprofit Wellnest. He mentors graduate students as part of UCLA Luskin’s Senior Fellows career leadership program, and he will soon become president of the UCLA Alumni Association.

Retana credited his family for their unshakable support and thanked all the loved ones who were present to cheer on the graduates. “Families are the quiet towers of strength that support us in ways we often take for granted,” he said.

Like many of the day’s speakers, Retana acknowledged that the Class of 2024 pursued their degrees during an often painful era.

For the undergraduates, this included beginning their college careers in 2020 as COVID-19 took lives, strained finances and kept people apart. Political polarization, a reckoning with racism and labor strife followed, and the schisms grew deeper this academic year with the devastating loss of life in the Middle East and protests that have divided campuses across the country, including UCLA.

“Today, we gather to celebrate the achievements and the bright futures of our graduating class. Yet we cannot ignore the recent conflicts and violence that have affected our universities, including our beloved UCLA,” Retana said.

“These events remind us of the critical importance of fostering environments where respect, empathy and dialogue are important.”

Students chosen by their peers to deliver commencement remarks also spoke of this difficult moment, calling for moral courage and solidarity. At the graduate ceremony, members of the audience were invited to leave the ceremony to join a pro-Palestinian rally outside.

Retana urged the entire Class of 2024 to “tell your story in your own words, so that no one tells it for you.”

“Your resilience and your heart not only help you to survive hardships, but also to thrive and reach your full potential, turning life’s trials into stepping stones for success.”

View photos of the graduate commencement

2024 UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs Graduate Commencement

Watch the graduate commencement ceremony

View photos of the undergraduate commencement

UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs 2024 Undergraduate Commencement

Watch the undergraduate commencement ceremony

 

Blazing Trails for Asian American Health and Well-Being Social Welfare alumni Bill Watanabe and Yasuko Sakamoto are honored for legacy of leadership

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By Mary Braswell

Alumni, faculty, staff and friends of UCLA Luskin Social Welfare gathered in Little Tokyo this month to celebrate two trailblazers whose life’s work centered on making the Asian American and Pacific Islander community thrive, in Los Angeles and beyond.

Bill Watanabe MSW ’72 and Yasuko Sakamoto MSW ’83 were recognized as the Joseph A. Nunn Social Welfare Alumni of the Year for their decades of leadership in strengthening ethnic neighborhoods and training generations of social workers who would carry on a legacy of service.

Watanabe and Sakamoto were two of the three original staff members of the Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC) when it opened in 1980, and they served together for more than three decades.

The nonprofit now employs more than 150 people, providing culturally sensitive social services, affordable housing, support for small businesses, and programs for children, families and seniors. The June 8 alumni celebration took place in the recently opened Terasaki Budokan, a community sports and activity center 30 years in the making.

Over the years, the service center has also served as a learning site for more than 120 social welfare interns, 60 from UCLA — including three current  faculty, Susan Lares-Nakaoka MSW ’99 UP PhD ’14, director of field education; Toby Hur MSW ’93 and Erin Nakamura MSW ’12.

A group of former interns nominated Watanabe and Sakamoto for this year’s award, and many delivered moving tributes to their mentors.

“Bill was well-known for his visionary leadership, unwavering ethics and persistence in pursuing social justice goals … and also, the way he just always does the right thing,” Lares-Nakaoka said of Watanabe, who served as the center’s founding executive director for 32 years before retiring in 2012.

three young people in historic B&W photo

LTSC’s three original staffers: Yasuko Sakamoto, left, Bill Watanabe and Evelyn Yoshimura. Photo courtesy of the Little Tokyo Service Center

Born in the Manzanar incarceration camp during World War II, Watanabe went on to complete his education and rise to several leadership positions at organizations that serve marginalized populations and fund community development. His efforts to save and restore historic places significant to the AAPI community earned him a “hero award” from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. And as a past UCLA Luskin Senior Fellow, he has mentored graduate students in leadership and career development.

“You can see his massive reach, both locally and nationally,” Lares-Nakaoka said.

Alumna Hiroko Murakami MSW ’09 spoke of Sakamoto’s lasting impact as LTSC’s director of social services until her retirement in 2016. Programs to provide counseling, reach out to isolated members of the community, support families dealing with Alzheimer’s and provide transitional housing to survivors of domestic abuse are among those designed and launched by Sakamoto.

Murakami said Sakamoto was a creative leader, even initiating a series of tofu cookbooks “to introduce healthy eating to a wide audience, with the funds raised going to emergency services and domestic violence counseling.”

Sakamoto advocated on behalf of new immigrants and reparations for detained Japanese Americans, and has been a frequent speaker in both the United States and Japan, where she was born. She has received a commendation from the Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles.

Despite numerous accolades over the decades, the two honorees never prioritized building up egos or empires, instead keeping their focus on community needs, the afternoon’s speakers noted. That outlook was evident in their comments to the gathering.

“This recognition is due to a collective effort, not just Bill and me,” Sakamoto said. She expressed gratitude to Evelyn Yoshimura, the third original LTSC staffer, and other employees, volunteers, partner agencies and places of learning like UCLA that sent budding social workers into the heart of Little Tokyo.

“Personally, I have always felt the student interns who I worked with were my great teacher. … They guided me to become a better social worker and effective supervisor,” she said.

Watanabe personally thanked Nunn, a UCLA Luskin professor emeritus who is the namesake of the annual alumni award and was present at the celebration.

“The name of Joe Nunn is a very highly honored name in the school of social welfare at UCLA,” he said. “And so to receive this recognition in his name is a very, very big deal for Yasuko and myself.”

He said UCLA was “perhaps the most courageous school of social work in the country” for opening its doors to him in the 1970s.

“I wrote a heartfelt autobiographical statement basically saying, if I get accepted, I commit myself and dedicate myself to work in this community to try to make a change,” Watanabe said.

“So I want to thank UCLA for taking a chance and allowing people like myself and Yasuko — who was much more qualified than I — to be able to be trained and educated so that we can serve the community.”

View photos from the celebration

Social Welfare Alumni Awards 2024