A space for possibility: UCLA joins with local leaders for a better Los Angeles

Collaboration and connection were at the forefront of UCLA's first community partnership summit. The recent event, held in the heart of central Los Angeles, demonstrated the power and promise of bridging the university with the people working to make change from the ground up.

"UCLA has the opportunity and responsibility to impact the lives of Angelenos," said Paco Retana, president of the UCLA Alumni Association and co-chair of the UCLA LA Community Engagement Council, during the welcome. The council, which was created as part of the campus' strategic plan, is an extension of the Center for Community Engagement, which convened the summit.

With research-engaged faculty, students, local organizers and philanthropy leaders in attendance, the day highlighted how UCLA is making the most of its place within the diverse greater Los Angeles area, co-creating projects that address local issues, such as extreme heat, disaster preparedness, civic engagement, language access and homelessness. Many of the projects were from the center's Social Impact Collaboratives program and other established research partnerships that exemplify the spirit behind the UCLA Connects initiative.

"Our mission of research, teaching and service is strongest when it's rooted in our Southern California community," said Darnell Hunt, executive vice chancellor and provost, during his opening speech.

"This is a space for learning, connection and collective problem-solving," Hunt said of the summit. "Most of all, it's a space for possibility."

Relationships of trust

The drive to improve people's lives in ways that are not only informed by those experiencing the issues being tackled, but also actively involving them, was at the core of presentations and the conversations between attendees.

During one of the breakout sessions on building climate change resilience, Ph.D. student Elijah Catalan addressed how he passes on knowledge of geographic information systems, commonly used by academics, to organizers in South Los Angeles who are looking to show the potential harm being done in their neighborhoods by mapping out oil wells in their area.

"We want to keep skills within communities," said Catalan, who has an interest in environmental justice.

He and the rest of the team, led by professors Aradhna Tripati and Robert Eagle, train people involved with the Esperanza Community Housing Corporation not just to use these tools but also to share that new knowledge with others.

At times, the rigid and restrictive nature of research is at odds with addressing people's needs. But many in attendance emphasized that there is a wealth of knowledge in communities and that to make real change, researchers need to take the time to build relationships and ask what they can do for the community.

Monice Uriarte, who directs health programs at Esperanza, said she was "tired" of her community "being guinea pigs for studies." But because she knew Tripati and her team, which included people from Uriarte's organization as co-principal investigators, she knew they were different from others just passing by.

In another breakout focused on street and traffic safety, researcher Anna Immergluck of the UCLA Carceral Ecologies Lab shared how they were working very closely with those who lived around Ted Watkins Park in South Los Angeles and had been impacted by high rates of traffic accidents.

She presented alongside grassroots organization Dignity and Power Now's Helen Jones, who lost both her husband and sister to car accidents around the area. The lab works closely with local groups not just to gather, interpret and present data on the incidents, but also to convene focus groups to develop ways to make the area safer.

"Each of those spots on the map is somebody's life, someone's community member, someone that was loved," said Immergluck.

"Together we can make the place we live a safe place," said Jones.

Michelle Caswell, a professor of information studies and the inaugural special advisor on community-engaged scholarship to EVCP Hunt, emphasized that doing research that is led and driven by the community requires a paradigm shift towards collaboration and co-creation.

"It's all about relationships of trust," she said.

Building partnerships for the future

The event emphasized themes of connection and of learning to translate research and theory into real-world practice, especially in meaningful, long-term ways. This also extended into nonprofits and philanthropy, where presenters like Efrain Escobedo of the Center for Nonprofit Management, Raphael Sonenshein of the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation and Liberty Hill Foundation's Corey Mathews addressed the importance of partnerships to build power for local communities.

As attendees looked forward to forging new relationships and designing projects grounded in mutual respect and mutual benefit, CCE announced the launch of a resource to help bring people together.

"From the first meeting of the new UCLA-LA Community Engagement Council in 2024, non-profit organization and community leaders conveyed how daunting it is to find a 'way in' to UCLA," said Shalom Staub, assistant vice provost and executive director of CCE. "They expressed the need for greater transparency and a place to start to know who to contact when organizations are looking to find interns, seek volunteers or create partnerships with faculty and students to address research questions that matter for their communities."

The Community Portal provides that entry point through which the broader community can better connect with UCLA's faculty, staff and students to partner for change.

The portal builds upon the energy of the in-person summit, helping to usher more people into the work being done by UCLA and its partners. Attendee and Bruin alumnus, Soleil Delgadillo, summed it up best: "This is a space where people want to collaborate."