Celebrate Community Scholars!

Sponsored by the UCLA Labor Center and Department of Urban Planning, Community Scholars was launched in 1991 to provide students with an opportunity to work together with leaders from key community and labor organizations across Los Angeles on dynamic research projects. For twenty-five years, Community Scholars has inspired new generations of social justice leaders and provided groundbreaking reports in support of economic justice.

Through Community Scholars, hundreds of students and community leaders have come together to tackle pressing issues facing Los Angeles. One class’ research on “green jobs” led the city of Los Angeles to pass an ordinance that created the Los Angeles Green Retrofit and Workforce program to retrofit buildings across the city while creating good jobs. Another class led to a multi-union organizing effort on Los Angeles manufacturing.

On Wednesday, February 24, 2016 alumni, faculty and current students gathered to celebrate 25 years of the Community Scholars Program. The event honored Community Scholars Founding Director Gilda Haas and remembered the life and invaluable contributions of the late Jacqueline Leavitt, cofounder and professor of Urban Planning.