Category: School of Public Affairs

Category: School of Public Affairs
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Former U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler brought a message of resiliency and resolve to more than 400 scholars, students, community leaders, and elected officials who came together at UCLA last week to take on California’s most entrenched problems.
“Too many Californians, too many Angelenos, are not OK,” Butler told the crowd gathered for the eighth annual
UCLA Luskin Summit
on April 15. But she added, “The people in this room, the communities that you serve, have already proven that change is possible. …
“I keep returning to this one thing that sustains me: It’s that hope is not a joyful feeling. Hope, UCLA, is hard work.”
Butler, who served as a labor leader, political advisor and UC regent before joining the U.S. Senate in 2023 to complete the term of the late Dianne Feinstein, delivered the keynote address following a morning centered on strengthening resilience and equity at the local level.
Sharing Research and Solutions
Researchers from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs teamed up with difference-makers in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to share the latest advances in four areas of concern:
California’s housing strategy, including the state’s new zoning rules aimed at making shelter more affordable
Environmental health and justice, including the impact of extreme heat as L.A. hosts a series of mega-events, and the toll plastic pollution takes on vulnerable communities
Transportation security, including new strategies for elevating security, trust, and comfort among public transit riders
Socioeconomic vulnerability, including strategies to bridge intergenerational inequities, and regulatory tools that can be used to promote more inclusive growth
Launched in 2019, the UCLA Luskin Summit provides a bridge between academia, policymakers, and civil society, with the goal of finding evidence-based solutions to California’s most pressing concerns. This year’s gathering highlighted recent research from the
UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation
UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
, and departments of
Public Policy
Social Welfare
, and
Urban Planning
Master of Urban Planning student O’Philia Le said she chose to attend the summit to learn how UCLA Luskin research is put into practice in the world.
“A key takeaway for me was that large-scale racial justice and global environmental impacts really start with local solutions. However, those solutions don’t just happen on their own,” she said.
“They require political pressure, community engagement, and an intentional push to actually move forward. As an aspiring planner, I believe that this is key to the work that we do.”
From left, ABC7’s Josh Haskell, Miguel Santana of the California Community Foundation, and Zev Yaroslavsky of UCLA Luskin’s Los Angeles Initiative review results from the 2026 Quality of Life Index. Photo by Michael Troxell
Quality of Life Index Reveals Growing Strain
The summit also hosted the release of this year’s
UCLA Quality of Life Index
(QLI), a project of the Luskin School’s Los Angeles Initiative, directed by
Zev Yaroslavsky
. The survey found that Los Angeles County residents’ satisfaction with their lives has hit the lowest level in the QLI’s 11-year history.
“We’ve been through a lot in the last five years: COVID; punishing increases in the cost of living; last year’s catastrophic fires, the worst natural disaster in the history of this city; tariffs; and this year the destabilizing implementation of the Trump administration’s immigration sweeps, which started right here in our own back yard,” he said. “All of these have taken their toll on virtually every aspect of our lives in every part of our region.”
Cost of living continues to be the single biggest driver of residents’ quality of life, though its rating declined from 2025, according to the survey. Among the 1,400 Los Angeles County residents polled in March, housing affordability remained the dominant concern, while rising costs for utilities, groceries, and taxes were cited more frequently than in prior years.
Ratings fell across nearly every category compared with last year, with six areas reaching their lowest levels since the survey began in 2016: education, transportation and traffic, jobs and the economy, public safety, neighborhood conditions, and relations among different races, ethnicities, and religions.
A Call to Action for the Next Generation
In her remarks, Butler also addressed the sobering results of the QLI.
“Every year the Quality of Life Index holds up a mirror to Los Angeles County,” she said. “And every year, it asks us to be brave enough to look in that mirror.”
She stressed, however, that “alongside every data point of strain, there’s a counter story, one that doesn’t get enough attention — the story that happens when people organize, when coalitions hold, when accountability is real.”
To the service-minded students in the room, she issued a call to action, echoing the summit’s theme of empowering local communities. Some of them would go to Washington and some to Sacramento, where they are desperately needed, she said.
“But some of you — hear me — need to go to places that don’t make headlines. To neighborhoods where the data actually lives, to communities where the stakes are immediate, not to study them but to be accountable to them. …
“The communities most impacted by vulnerability are also most engaged in building solutions. … Survival demands participation.”
UCLA Luskin professor Veronica Herrera introduces a session on plastic pollution before a standing-room-only audience. Photo by Mary Braswell
View more photos from the 2026 UCLA Luskin Summit on Flickr.
Key takeaways
LA County residents are less satisfied with their quality of life than at any time in more than a decade, according to the 11th annual UCLA Los Angeles County Quality of Life Index.
The overall index dropped to a historic low of 52, with six of the nine categories that comprise the index also falling to their lowest levels on record.
Education, transportation/traffic and cost of living saw the steepest declines, reinforcing the ongoing strain of affordability and infrastructure challenges.
Los Angeles County residents are less satisfied with their quality of life than at any time in more than a decade, according to the 11th annual UCLA Los Angeles County Quality of Life Index, a project of the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs in partnership with the California Community Foundation. The overall index dropped to a historic low of 52, with six of the nine categories that comprise the index also falling to their lowest levels on record.
Topline Numbers
52
– Lowest Quality of Life Index score on record
40%
– Share of voters undecided in LA mayoral race
31%
– Residents worried about deportation
26%
– Residents reporting wildfire-related income loss
56%
– Dissatisfied with wildfire recovery efforts
Declining quality of life
In addition to the drop in the overall index, eight of the nine categories that make up the index declined in satisfaction, with six reaching historic lows. Education, transportation/traffic and cost of living — already the lowest-rated areas — saw the steepest declines, reinforcing the ongoing strain of affordability and infrastructure challenges.
“Los Angeles County residents’ rating of their quality of life has been in decline since the peak of the COVID pandemic,” said
Zev Yaroslavsky
, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin, which conducts the poll. “We’ve been through a lot in the last five years. COVID, increases in the cost of living, immigration sweeps, and the Altadena and Palisades fires have taken their toll on virtually every aspect of our lives.
“Despite the challenges county residents have faced, when asked if they were generally optimistic or pessimistic about their own economic future in Los Angeles County, a majority of survey respondents (53%) said they were optimistic.”
Immigration enforcement driving anxiety
Immigration enforcement actions over the past year have contributed to widespread concern across the county. Nearly one-third of residents (31%) say they are worried that they or someone close to them could be deported.
These concerns are not abstract. Three in 10 residents report knowing someone who lost income or was afraid to leave home due to enforcement activity, and roughly 15% say they know someone who has been detained or deported. The impacts are most pronounced among Latino residents and younger Angelenos.
“The ICE sweeps have cast fear and insecurity in many of our communities,” said Yaroslavsky. “When so many residents are directly touched by these experiences, it’s no wonder that anxiety is widespread.”
Lingering impacts of 2025 wildfires
The economic effects of the 2025 wildfires continue to ripple across Los Angeles County. More than 1 in 4 residents (26%) report losing income due to the fires, and only a small share of those affected say they have fully recovered. Overall, about 1 in 5 residents continues to experience unrecovered financial losses tied to the disaster.
Public sentiment toward recovery efforts is broadly negative. A majority of residents (56%) report dissatisfaction with local government response and rebuilding efforts, including nearly one-third who are very dissatisfied.
Mayoral race remains wide open
The survey also gauged voter sentiment in the upcoming Los Angeles mayoral election, revealing a highly unsettled race. Among 813 likely June primary voters, incumbent Mayor Karen Bass leads with 25% support, followed by Spencer Pratt at 11% and Nithya Raman at 9%. A striking 40% of voters remain undecided — by far the largest bloc.
With no clear second-place candidate emerging, the findings suggest that while Bass is well positioned to advance, the contest for the second spot remains fluid and voter preferences are still taking shape.
The Quality of Life Index
The Quality of Life Index is based on a survey of 1,400 Los Angeles County residents conducted March 15–29, 2026, with a margin of error of 2.6%. The index is a project of the Los Angeles Initiative of the Luskin School, with major funding provided by Meyer and Renee Luskin and the California Community Foundation.
“The QLI captures both the hope and the challenges in Los Angeles,” said Miguel Santana, president and CEO of the California Community Foundation. “Through our partnership with UCLA Luskin over the next decade, we can better understand the region — and what it takes to ensure a good life is within reach for all.”
The
full report
is being released on April 15 as part of the
UCLA Luskin Summit
, which will focus on building community resilience through local solutions. In addition to Yaroslavsky and Santana, the event features other public officials, including former U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler, as well as scholars and community leaders.
The UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs has received a transformative $13.5 million award to its Department of Social Welfare, marking a pivotal moment in the school’s history. This funding is a cornerstone of a
larger $33 million investment to UCLA
by Ballmer Group to expand efforts in improving the mental health and well-being of youth and families across Los Angeles.
At a time when more young Californians than ever are reporting poor mental health —particularly in low-income, underserved “care deserts” — this investment will allow UCLA Luskin to directly address the critical shortage of trained professionals equipped to serve these communities.
Strengthening the Pipeline of Care
This award represents the largest single donation to UCLA Luskin since the school’s naming gift from Meyer and Renee Luskin. It underscores an increasing national urgency: the need for a robust, highly trained workforce to provide lifesaving access to care.
UCLA Luskin Social Welfare, consistently ranked among the top graduate programs in the nation, will use the funding to support a new cohort of students dedicated to youth mental health. By increasing access to specialized training and reducing financial barriers through new fellowships, the school will empower a diverse student body to enter high-need communities immediately upon graduation.
“We are absolutely delighted and grateful to Ballmer Group for this transformational investment,” said
Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris
, interim dean of UCLA Luskin “In Social Welfare, we are dedicated to tackling the worsening youth mental health crisis. These fellowships will train the best and brightest social workers, equipping them with the knowledge and tools to improve community mental health in our city and beyond.”
A Legacy of Community Impact
UCLA Luskin is uniquely positioned to maximize the impact of this award. Through existing partnerships with approximately 250 social service agencies, Luskin students already complete more than 50,000 hours of fieldwork annually. Ballmer Group’s investment will leverage this existing infrastructure to create a direct pipeline of support for Los Angeles County’s most vulnerable children and families.
“We are excited to have this opportunity to expand our department’s ability to train social workers to meet so many urgent needs,” said
Poco Kernsmith
, chair of UCLA Luskin Social Welfare. “They will be sent out to work with local nonprofits in underserved communities, provide counseling services and supports for youth and families, and provide early intervention services to prevent a myriad of mental and behavioral health issues among youth and young adults.”
This grant is part of an overall $110 million investment that Ballmer Group simultaneously made to Cal State Los Angeles and Cal State Dominguez Hills. Addressing a significant portion of Los Angeles County’s projected workforce need, the three universities will support almost 2,600 new behavioral health graduates by 2031, with exponentially more on the horizon.
With just two months to go before a primary election for Los Angeles’ next mayor, 40% of the electorate remains undecided, signaling volatile weeks of campaigning ahead, according to a new poll by the
UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass led the field with 25% support, followed by conservative television personality Spencer Pratt at 11% and Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman at 9%, according to the poll of likely LA primary voters.
Also on the ballot are tech entrepreneur Adam Miller and housing activist Rae Huang, who each received 3%. Nine percent of respondents indicated they would support “a different candidate.” A total of 14 candidates are vying for the city’s top office.
If no candidate wins a majority in the June 2 primary, the top two vote-getters will face off in November to determine who will lead the nation’s second-most populous city.
“It is unusual for 40% of likely voters to be unsure of their choice just two months before an LA mayoralty election,” said
Zev Yaroslavsky
, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin, who served for decades as an elected leader in Los Angeles city and county.
“Although Mayor Bass faces the most challenging reelection of an incumbent mayor in decades, it is highly likely that this election will be decided in a November runoff. A lot can change between now and then, so it’s a wide-open race.”
The poll, which surveyed 813 likely primary voters between March 15 and March 29, is part of UCLA Luskin’s annual
Quality of Life Index
measuring Angelenos’ perception of their well-being across issues like safety, cost of living, health care and the environment. This year’s survey was conducted in partnership with the California Community Foundation, and complete results will be released on April 15 at the
UCLA Luskin Summit
The large bloc of undecided voters indicates that many are still assessing Bass’ record against her opponents’ qualifications. The 2025 Quality of Life Index, released weeks after the catastrophic Los Angeles wildfires, found that the mayor was viewed unfavorably by 49% of respondents, a significant increase from 32% a year earlier.
Undecided voters may be unfamiliar with many of the names on this year’s ballot. Among the more prominent are Pratt, best known for his appearances on reality television shows, and Raman, elected in 2020 to represent Los Angeles’ 4th District, which stretches from Reseda to Los Feliz. Raman entered the mayor’s race just hours before the filing deadline closed on Feb. 7.
This year’s UCLA Luskin poll also measured support for candidates across different demographic groups.
Bass, the first Black woman to lead Los Angeles, drew the support of 53% of African American respondents, with 29% undecided.
Among white, Latino, and Asian and Pacific Islander respondents, the undecided category outpaced support for Bass.
Among voters age 65 or older, Bass received support from 31%, with 36% undecided.
Among voters aged 40 to 64, 23% supported Bass. Collectively, her top four opponents drew 30% support. A similar pattern emerged among voters aged 18 to 39, with 21% supporting Bass and 29% supporting one of her four closest contenders.
Undecided voters were the largest segment in each of the age categories.
The poll, conducted by public opinion research firm
FM3 Research
by phone and online in English and Spanish, has a margin of error of 4%. Funding for the Quality of Life Index is provided by Meyer and Renee Luskin through the Los Angeles Initiative, as well as the California Community Foundation.
by Peaches Chung
For parenting students, balancing coursework with employment and caregiving responsibilities often means navigating additional barriers to academic success. When child care arrangements fall through, even routine campus policies — such as restrictions on children in libraries and dining halls — can limit access to essential study spaces and resources.
Across the UC system, these challenges are part of many students’ daily experiences.
Schinal Harrington understands those realities firsthand.
A first-generation student in UCLA’s Master of Social Welfare program, Harrington is a proud double Bruin, chair of the Bruin Parenting Scholars at UCLA, and a leading voice for parenting students across the entire UC system.
“There is no individual dream in my journey,” Harrington reflects. “Higher education was a collective dream carried by my children, my ancestors, and the community that raised me. When I first arrived at UCLA, I carried more than books. I carried the lessons of survival and the knowledge of what it means to navigate systems that were never designed with students like me in mind.”
Harrington, a native of Santa Monica, was born at the UCLA hospital. As a child, she rode the Big Blue Bus her uncle drove to campus and admired the university from afar, never imagining she would one day call it home.
After earning dual bachelor’s degrees in Sociology and African American Studies, returning to UCLA for her MSW felt like both a homecoming and a calling.
“My path at Luskin is about transforming lived experience into leadership and ensuring institutions become accountable to the students and families they serve,” she says.
Balancing motherhood, scholarship and advocacy is not, in her view, a matter of juggling competing roles. Motherhood is the foundation for everything she does.
“Motherhood is the ground from which my scholarship and advocacy rise,” she says. “My studying happens in the margins of caregiving, in waiting rooms, in moments of uncertainty, and in the quiet after everyone else has been held, within systems that still ask parenting students to justify our presence. My family is not separate from my work. They are the reason for it.”
Harrington has been a vocal advocate for structural change: full-time CalWORKs coordinators, child-friendly study spaces, trauma-informed therapists and advisers, and reduced course-load options that do not punish parenting students through financial aid removal. She delivered powerful testimony before the UC Student Association Board of Directors, recounting the everyday challenges caregiving students face.
“Parenting students must fight for our basic needs,” she said.
Her advocacy contributed to the passage of the “Resolution Calling for Accountability, Compliance, and Structural Support for Parenting Students in the UC System” in November 2025, which was a milestone she describes as transformative.
“When the resolution was passed, our experiences moved from private hardship into public commitment,” she says. “Parenting students have always been here — capable, determined, exhausted, and too often unseen. Seeing student leadership formally recognize our realities affirmed that what we were carrying was not an individual burden, but an institutional one.”
After Luskin, Harrington plans to continue advancing equity in higher education and advocating for system-impacted communities, particularly youth impacted by the juvenile justice system. Her work, she says, will remain rooted in reducing harm, expanding dignity and ensuring those closest to the margins are driving the solutions.
In classrooms, policy rooms, and in testimony halls, Harrington is proving that parenting students are not anomalies within higher education — they are leaders within it. The institution she once watched from the window of a Big Blue Bus is now a place she is helping transform.
A contingent of UCLA Luskin faculty, students, staff, and alumni traveled to Sacramento in mid-February to bring new research and policy insights to decision-makers who are grappling with the state’s most pressing issues.
The two-day
California Policy Briefing
highlighted scholarship from two of the School’s research centers: The
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
focused on how the state can oversee equitable implementation of a new statewide upzoning law. And the
UCLA Voting Rights Project
examined legislative strategies to strengthen fairness, inclusivity, and trust in the electoral process.
Xavier Becerra, former U.S. congressman, California attorney general, and U.S. secretary of health and human services, addressed the gathering. UCLA Luskin graduate and undergraduate students in attendance also met with UCLA alumni now serving in the the state Assembly and received a private tour of the Capitol. The UCLA Luskin community also reconnected at an alumni reception.
First-year MPP student Andrea Escobar shared her reflections on the experience:
***
For the last four years, I have worked in Sacramento as a staffer in the Governor’s Office
. I used to walk past the Capitol on my way to work every day but truly never paid it much attention. During UCLA Luskin’s 2026 California Policy Briefing, I returned as a Master of Public Policy student with the goal of bridging my professional experience in state government with the analytical tools I am currently developing at Luskin.
Andrea Escobar
This trip not only allowed me to return to a city I care deeply about, but also gave me the opportunity to see the policymaking process from a new vantage point — one that is no longer as staff supporting the work behind the scenes, but as a policy advocate and researcher engaging directly with legislators and other policy professionals.
The first day of our Sacramento trip was spent exploring the Capitol and meeting with Assemblymembers Mike Fong and Josh Hoover, both UCLA alums. Although both were delayed due to a floor session, we had the opportunity to hear from Assemblymember Fong’s chief of staff, who shared insights into her career path in the Legislature and the experiences that shaped her work. What resonated most with me was her reminder that there is no single “correct” path into public service — each journey, whether rooted in direct legislative work in Sacramento or community and stakeholder engagement in Los Angeles, brings valuable perspective.
This reinforced that policy leadership is strengthened by diverse experiences and grounded understanding of the communities we serve. These experiences are shaping me into a more thoughtful policy researcher and professional who prioritizes lived experience as an essential component of effective policymaking.
Our Capitol tour included access to both the Senate and Assembly floors. As someone who aspires to write policy, standing in those chambers brought into focus the weight and significance of this work. It was a powerful reminder that policymaking is not abstract — it directly shapes people’s lives and opportunities. With that comes a responsibility to advance policies that improve the human condition and create a more just and equitable future. These moments reaffirmed my commitment to pursuing policy work that leaves a lasting, positive impact for future generations.
Our final day in Sacramento focused on two policy briefings: one on SB 79, California’s new statewide upzoning law, and another on protecting equitable access to the ballot. These sessions highlighted the complex ecosystem involved in implementing major policy reforms, bringing together stakeholders, local governments, state agencies, elected officials, and legal scholars. The conversations underscored how policymaking does not end with passage; it requires coordination, legal interpretation, and sustained collaboration to translate legislation into meaningful impact. Together, the briefings illustrated the layered and collaborative nature of turning policy into practice.
Being back in the Capitol as a student sharpened my understanding of how research, narrative, and coalition-building intersect to shape policy outcomes. It reinforced why I came to UCLA: to strengthen my capacity as a policy analyst and advocate who can translate lived experience and community priorities into actionable, evidence-based proposals. Returning to Sacramento in this new role felt both full circle and forward-looking. It affirmed my commitment to advancing equitable and just policies in California.
View photos from the 2026 California Policy Briefing on Flickr.
The keynote and panel discussion “
Reexamining the “Nation of Immigrants”: The Politics of ICE Enforcement”
was held on Thursday, February 5, as part of the Luskin Lecture Series, bringing together leading voices in law, research and immigration rights advocacy to assess the changing landscape of immigration enforcement in California. Featured speakers included Attorney General of California Rob Bonta; Ahilan Arulanantham, professor from practice and faculty co-director of the
Center for Immigration Law and Policy
, Paul Ong, research professor and director of the
Center for Neighborhood Knowledge
, and Angelica Salas
executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights.
In his keynote address, Bonta characterized the current moment as a critical juncture for immigrant communities in the state. He pointed to mounting reports of increased militarization on the streets and described a climate of fear taking hold in neighborhoods. Framing the issue as both a legal and moral imperative, Bonta underscored the importance of protecting the rights of all residents in California, regardless of immigration status, stating that “nobody should be living in fear.”
With President and CEO of California Community Foundation Miguel A. Santana serving as moderator, the panel discussion shifted to strategy, structural accountability and the broader implications of federal enforcement practices.
Salas highlighted California’s ongoing legal challenges to federal immigration actions and called for sustained oversight of detention facilities, urging state leaders to “double down on accountability.”
Ong widened the lens, situating California’s response within national trends, he argued that rigorous data collection and impact analysis are essential to demonstrating how state-level protections can mitigate harm to immigrant communities. By quantifying outcomes, he suggested, California could offer an evidence-based model for other states grappling with similar tensions.
Emphasizing allegations of misconduct by federal immigration officers in Southern California, Arulanantham called on state officials to consider criminal accountability where appropriate.
Following the panel discussion, the forum opened to audience questions that reflected the heightened anxieties around federal immigration enforcement in California.
Many questions centered around how the state of California would protect its residents from the threat of ICE, especially on school campuses and in the anticipation of the upcoming Olympics.
The panelists responded by framing community preparedness as a critical line of defense, stressing the importance of people knowing their rights. Attorney General Bonta closed on a note that “we shouldn’t feel hopeless, because we’re not helpless.”
The UCLA Activists-in-Residence program welcomed its ninth cohort to campus for a five-month residency that provides time to reflect and recharge, envision new projects, and connect with UCLA faculty, students, and staff.
Four activists are participating in this year’s program, which supports artists, community organizers, and movement leaders as they undertake power-shifting scholarship and pedagogy focused on social change. The
UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy
will host three activists — José Gama Vargas, Chelsea Kirk, and Chris Tyler — and the
UCLA Asian American Studies Center
will host Set Hernandez.
José Gama Vargas
, a steward of the vast ancestral territory of the Gabrielino/Tongva Nation, is exploring what it means to unite gardeners as they stand in solidarity with the land, with each other and with the land’s original caretakers.
Set Hernandez
is a queer and undocumented filmmaker, writer, and community organizer with roots in the Philippines. Since 2010, they have organized around migrant justice issues, from deportation defense to health care access.
Chelsea Kirk
is a tenant organizer, researcher, and policy advocate whose work is oriented toward building a better world without predatory landlords. She earned her UCLA Luskin Master of Urban and Regional Planning in 2025.
Chris Tyler
, an organizer with the Los Angeles Tenants Union and communications manager at Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, works for housing and economic justice, organizing neighbors, fighting evictions, and coordinating educational programs.
Learn more about the UCLA Activists-in-Residence program and this year’s cohort
On Friday, January 23, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs hosted its twentieth annual Luskin Day at Los Angeles City Hall, in partnership with UCLA Government & Community Relations and Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky. This yearly event gives Luskin students the chance to connect directly with city and county leaders, attend panels on local government reform and immigration policy, and see firsthand how public policy is made. Undergraduate student Shay Rivera-Bremner shares her reflections on her experience attending Luskin’s City Hall Day.
Sitting on the 26th floor of City Hall overlooking Los Angeles was a powerful experience. I was joined by Luskin students, local leaders, and former leaders whose work has left a lasting mark on the city. Listening to the panelists revealed how meaningful local change is envisioned, coordinated, and carried out across both the city and county. Los Angeles is a pioneer in local policy and others look to our city, our efforts, and our people as models for what is possible.
Leaders from across different sectors, with countless years of combined experience, also recognized that we are living in unprecedented times. Like the students at Luskin, they are still learning and applying their knowledge to navigate uncertainty. This created space for students like myself to recognize that our new ideas and lived experiences can contribute to meaningful change at the local level. Seeing that impact reflected in the city below reinforced the role students can play in shaping Los Angeles.
Los Angeles is a unique, vibrant, and vast city that needs students and lifelong learners to bring together the new and the old as a united front to move forward.
In comparing Los Angeles to other counties and cities, panelists highlighted how uniquely the city has developed over time and how it continues to shape local, state, and national politics. Discussion of the recently passed Measure G—including the expansion of the Board of Supervisors and the creation of a county executive—sparked conversation about how these changes may transform county operations and potentially set a precedent for jurisdictions across the nation.
A panel focused on immigrant rights and affairs in Los Angeles particularly captured my attention. While public attention has shifted elsewhere, City Council Member Eunisses Hernandez emphasized that although the cameras have left Los Angeles, federal agents have not. Our communities continue to feel the effects daily through fear and direct harm. Leaders from Los Angeles County and the City’s Office of Immigrant Rights shared how they have strategized, collaborated, and adapted their approaches to address these ongoing challenges across the city and beyond. With new and unexpected problems comes a need for new solutions to uphold rights and protect public safety for all.
Watching students and local leaders question, discuss, and grapple with the issues directly affecting our communities—and explore new ideas alongside lessons from the past—demonstrated how Luskin fosters dialogue and equips students not only to study theory, but to implement real change.
To view more photos from this day,
please see photo album.
by Peaches Chung
One year after the Palisades and Eaton fires, the physical damage still remains — empty lots, foundations without homes, quiet neighborhoods waiting to return. For Minjee Kim, assistant professor of urban planning at UCLA, the devastating wildfires presented a rare chance to rethink Los Angeles’ most fire-prone areas, a chance she says, that was largely missed.
“The destruction was so massive,” Kim says. “It presented the city and the county with a chance to think big and to think differently. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.”
Professor Minjee Kim
Kim’s perspective comes from a long career that spans architecture, planning, and real estate development. Trained as an architect in South Korea, she later shifted to urban planning to have a bigger impact, earning her master’s and doctoral degrees at MIT while she worked in the planning department in the city of Cambridge.
For Kim, the problem extended beyond the speed of recovery to the framework guiding it. In the aftermath of the fires, there were widespread discussions about reimagining fire-prone neighborhoods and designing them to better withstand future climate-related disasters. But as rebuilding moved forward, those conversations failed to materialize into actual, on-the-ground changes.
“We’re essentially rebuilding exactly what was there before,” she says. “We’re not realigning streets, creating meaningful fire breaks, or rethinking evacuation routes in a comprehensive way. We’re not moving away from the most vulnerable areas or increasing density in safer locations.”
For Kim, resiliency is not just about fire-resistant materials, it’s about neighborhood-scale design and coordinated planning.
“Fire resiliency is about systems,” she says. “How infrastructure works together. How people move. How communities are protected as a whole.”
Kim served on the UCLA team of experts advising the Los Angeles County Blue Ribbon Commission, which recommended creating two intergovernmental, quasi-governmental entities: one focused on rebuilding and recovery, and another on fire prevention and management. These agencies were envisioned as vehicles for coordinating across jurisdictions, pooling resources, and acting at a regional scale.
“The destruction was so massive. It presented the city and the county with a chance to think big and to think differently. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.”
Those recommendations have not been implemented.
“The root of the problem is lack of political will and administrative capacity,” Kim says. “Neither is built to support large-scale reimagination.”
Looking ahead, Kim anticipates construction activity accelerating in years two and three, plateauing by year four, and ultimately resulting in many residents returning.
However, who returns, and how quickly, hinges on who has the coverage and capital to do so.
Kim points out the biggest differential is homeowners’ insurance. In Altadena, many families were underinsured, leaving them without the financial resources to rebuild. In the Palisades, however, demand remains so strong that land parcels are selling for prices comparable to those of homes that once stood on them, giving homeowners far more flexibility in how they recover.
“This is where inequity really shows up,” Kim says. “Two communities experience the same disaster, but their paths to recovery look very different.” Kim is careful to acknowledge the work of public agencies and the state, noting that progress has been made, albeit slowly. Despite her critiques, Kim remains cautiously optimistic. She sees strong demand among residents to return, particularly in Altadena, and believes Los Angeles will recover.
“Los Angeles is a very resilient city,” she says. “It will recover from this horrific disaster.”
The larger question, she argues, is what kind of city emerges.
“One year out, we should be asking not just how fast we’re rebuilding,” Kim says, “but who the system is working for — and who it’s leaving behind.”
As climate-driven disasters become more frequent, Kim believes those questions must move from academic discussion into actual policy change.  For Los Angeles, the fires were not just a tragedy — they were a test.
Whether the city learns from it remains an open question.
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