10 Years of Luskin Fellowship Summer Program
This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the Luskin Fellowship Summer Program at Liberty Hill—an innovative partnership between the foundation and UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs aimed at supporting social justice leaders of tomorrow!
Each year, the long-running program gives UCLA graduate students the opportunity to work with the foundation on research and policy initiatives designed to drive systemic change across the Los Angeles region.
Since 2014, Liberty Hill has welcomed Public Policy, Social Welfare, and Urban Planning graduate students to its community of frontline organizations, community partners, and donor activists, introducing future planners and policymakers to core power building concepts.
Under the guidance of Liberty Hill staff, fellows help advance the foundation’s mission to address some of the most pressing social justice issues in Los Angeles. Students support the work around Liberty Hill’s priority areas—from Youth & Transformative Justice to Environmental & Climate Justice to Economic & Housing Justice, and more!
Throughout the 12-week fellowship, students have the opportunity to work on research, policy, advocacy, and applied projects tailored to their track of study. At the end of the summer, fellows present a summary of their work and share reflections on their experience. All fellows are provided with a stipend as part of the generous donations made by UCLA alumni and Liberty Hill donor activists, Stephanie Bronson ’81 and Harold Bronson ’72.
Over the years, the Luskin Fellowship program at Liberty Hill has welcomed an inspiring group of promising UCLA graduate students that have gone on to become effective community leaders, policy makers, and even elected officials.
Past noteworthy Luskin Fellowship alumni include Daniel Lee MSW ’15, former-Councilmember for the Culver City Council, Kaylyn Canilone MPP/MSW ’20, Research and Policy Manager at the Los Angeles County Department of Youth Development, and Jessa McCormack MURP ’19, former Liberty Hill Foundation Deputy Director for Housing Justice, just to name a few!
This year, Liberty Hill welcomed Alexa Moghadam MPP ’25 and Viviana Morales MPP ’25 to the fellowship program where they worked with the Youth Justice team and conducted research on several youth development and diversion programs.
Through this long-standing and valued partnership, Liberty Hill has worked alongside UCLA to identify community leaders at the frontlines of change. Together, the two L.A. institutions have invested in young leaders and equipped them with the skills and relationships they need to advance social justice.
