Our Team
David N. Myers
Director
David N. Myers is the director of the Bedari Kindness Institute, the Initiative to Study Hate, and the Dialogue Across Difference Initiative. He is a Distinguished Professor of History and holds the Sady and Ludwig Kahn Chair in Jewish History in the UCLA History Department. He is also the founding director of the UCLA Luskin Center for History and Policy and is the former president of the New Israel Friend.
Maia Ferdman
Deputy Director of BKI and Staff Director, Dialogue Across Difference Initiative
Maia Ferdman is the deputy director of the Bedari Kindness Institute. Maia is a dedicated bridge builder and educator. She is the founder and principal of Bridges Intergroup Relations Consulting, which supports organizations and communities to build vibrant spaces of belonging. Throughout her career Maia has developed numerous interfaith programs, trained government and nonprofit groups in cultural competency, and facilitated conversations across differences about policing, homelessness, racial equity, and more. She holds a B.A. in Global Studies and an M.A. in Latin American Studies from UCLA.
Amalia Mora
Research Manager, Initiative to Study Hate
Amalia C. Mora is the Research Manager for the Initiative to Study Hate, which is housed in the UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute. She is an ethnomusicologist, writer, and performing artist whose doctoral research examined the relationship between sexual violence and narratives about lower-caste dancers in India. In addition to her position at UCLA, she is a lecturer in the online Human Rights Practice Program and an affiliated faculty member for the Applied Intercultural Arts Research Program at the University of Arizona, where she helped to establish a new master’s certificate program as well as the UA Consortium on Gender-Based Violence. Amalia received her PhD from the UCLA Herb Albert School of Music, department of Ethnomusicology.
Felicia Graham
Graduate Fellow, Dialogue Across Difference Initiative
Felicia is a sixth year PhD candidate in UCLA’s Graduate School of Education in the division of Social Science and Comparative Education. Her research and teaching focus on youth civic engagement, Global Studies, and Indigenous/Decolonizing pedagogies and epistemologies of the Americas. Guided by chicana feminist theory, her current research engages youth in a political and economic critique of contemporary digital media to become advocates for culturally, historically, and politically responsive education based on human dignity, earthly respect, and rooted in the practice of love. She is a Graduate Fellow for the Dialogue across Difference Initiative at the UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute. Felicia received her Master’s in Global and International Studies, Political Economy and Sustainable Development from UCSB, and her BA in Political Science and History from UCSD.
Maria Patlan
BKI Fund & Payroll Manager
Maria Patlan is the fund and payroll manager at the Bedari Kindness Institute. She comes to the institute from the UCLA College Division of Social Sciences, where she spent a year working as the Divisional Payroll Intern. She received a B.S. in Anthropology with a minor in French from UCLA.
Faculty
Stephen Acabado
Professor, Chair of Archaeology Interdepartmental Program, Director of Center for Southeast Asian Studies
I am an anthropological archaeologist interested in human environment interaction and indigenous response to colonialism. My research focuses on the archaeology of highland agricultural systems in Southeast Asia, specifically on the Ifugao agricultural terraces (northern Philippines). My initial research findings established the recent inception of the Ifugao rice terraces, arguing against the long history model proposed at the beginning of the 20th century by pioneer anthropologists. Rather, the rice terraces are seen as responses to the arrival of the Spanish in the northern Philippine highlands. This work has espoused the idea that the artificial contrasts that we see between highland and lowland populations in the Philippines are products of colonialism and history, rather than differences in ecological adaptation. I have active research programs in indigenous Taiwan, and in Bicol and Ifugao, Philippines.
Daniel M.T. Fessler, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Anthropology Consulting Anthropologist, Veterans Administration West Los Angeles Medical Center
I am an evolutionary anthropologist whose principal focus is contemporary humans. Combining anthropological, psychological, and biological theories and methods, I study altruism, positive social behavior, and cooperation, including “contagious kindness”, as well as conflict, aggression, and risk-taking. Much of my research focuses on emotions and their behavioral consequences. I also investigate morality; cultural transmission; clinical applications of evolutionary psychology and evolutionary medicine; disease avoidance; food and eating; and sex and reproduction.
Saadia Gabriel
Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering
I am an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, and affiliated with the Bunche Center for African-American Studies. Previously, I was a NYU Faculty Fellow and MIT CSAIL Postdoctoral Fellow working with the wonderful Prof. Marzyeh Ghassemi. I received my PhD from the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington. I was very fortunate to be advised by Prof. Yejin Choi and Prof. Franziska Roesner. My work focuses on measuring factuality, intent and potential harm of human-written language. At UCLA, I run the Misinformation, AI and Responsible Society (MARS) Lab. You can find out more about my research agenda here.
Adriana Galván
Dean, Undergraduate Education and Professor, Psychology
Neuroscientist Adriana Galván was appointed dean of undergraduate education effective July 2020. A member of the UCLA faculty since 2008, Dean Galván is a professor of psychology, is co-executive director of the Center for the Developing Adolescent and is director of the Developmental Neuroscience Lab at UCLA.
Her research focuses on adolescent brain development and behavior, particularly in the domains of learning, motivation, and decision-making. She is a board member and on the leadership team of the Center for the Developing Adolescent and a standing member of the NIH Child Psychopathology and Developmental Disabilities Study Section. Dean Galván has been actively involved in the UCLA Academic Senate, having served on the executive committee, the Committee on Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with Schools, and the Undergraduate Council.
Dean Galván is a faculty affiliate of the UCLA Brain Research Institute and the UCLA Neuroscience Interdepartmental Program, an executive committee member of the UCLA Staglin Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, and co-director of the NICHD T32 Predoctoral Training Program in Adolescent Brain and Behavioral Development.
Anne Gilliland
Associate Dean and Professor of Information Studies
Anne Gilliland’s extensive career in research and teaching addresses the history, nature, human impact, and technologies associated with archives, recordkeeping and memory, particularly in translocal and international contexts. A Fellow of the Society of American Archivists and recipient of numerous awards in archival and information studies, she has held Honorary Research Fellow appointments with the Centre for Global Research, RMIT University in Melbourne, the University of Liverpool Department of History and the Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute, University of Glasgow. She has served as a NORSLIS (Nordic Research School in Library and Information Science) Professor at Tampere University, Finland; Lund University, Sweden; and the Royal School, Denmark. She has also taught courses as a visiting faculty member at Renmin University of China and the University of Zadar, Croatia.
Aliza Luft
Assistant Professor of Sociology
I am an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles. My research lies at the intersection of sociology, history, and political science. I am fascinated by how individuals make decisions about violence: whether to organize, support, and participate in violence; how, when, and why they choose to defect; and what happens once violence is done. To view my publications, or learn more about my book project, please visit www.alizaluft.com.
Alexandra Stern
Dean of the UCLA Division of Humanities, Professor of English and History, and in the UCLA Institute for Society and Genetics
Most of Stern’s research has focused on the uses and misuses of genetics in the United States and Latin America. She is the author of the award-winning Eugenic Nation: Faults and Frontiers of Better Breeding in Modern America, the second edition of which was published in 2015 by University of California Press. She also is the author of Telling Genes: The Story of Genetic Counseling in America (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012), which was named a Choice 2013 Outstanding Academic Title in Health Sciences.
More recently, she has conducted research on the history and cultures of ecofascism, and on the history of chaplaincy programs in modern hospitals.
Her latest book, Proud Boys and the White Ethnostate: How the Alt-Right is Warping the American Imagination (Beacon Press, 2019), applies the lenses of historical analysis, feminist studies and critical race studies to deconstruct the core ideas of the far right and white nationalism in the U.S. Following her work on that book, Stern was asked to contribute her expertise to the congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.
Stern is the founder and co-director of the Sterilization and Social Justice Lab, which uses mixed methods to study patterns and experiences of eugenic sterilization in the U.S. during the 20th century. The lab’s research informed the creation of a California program, which was active from 2022 to 2023, to compensate survivors of compulsory sterilization.
Executive Committee
Beth Colleton
Peter Evans
Peter has been in the UCLA Division of Social Sciences since 2011, assuming the role of Executive Director of Development in 2018 and the role of Assistant Dean of Development in 2023. In his role at UCLA, Peter oversees all major gift fundraising activities for the Division. Prior to joining UCLA, Peter worked at J. Paul Getty Museum for eight years after serving as business manager for several entertainment companies.
Matt Harris
Matt Harris is a founding partner of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). GIP is recognized as one of the world’s leading infrastructure investment firms, investing globally in the energy, transportation, water and waste sectors and combining deep industry expertise and relationships with best practice operational management.
During his 15 years as part of the leadership team at GIP, Matt has been intimately involved in all of GIP’s investment, management and strategic activities. He has overseen a period of massive growth for the company, transforming it into a market leader which now manages more than $72.0 billion for its investors in high quality infrastructure assets in both OECD and select emerging market countries. GIP’s impact extends beyond investors, with its portfolio companies boasting combined annual revenues of greater than $43.0 billion and employing approximately 52,000 people worldwide. Matt has championed GIP’s forward-leaning approach to growth and innovation, helping complete 16 strategic partnerships representing a total investment of $19.2 billion by GIP, and leading the firm’s entry into new markets including infrastructure in developing countries and renewable energy as well as its overall focus on energy transition. He previously was responsible for GIP’s global energy industry investment activities. He is a member of the Executive Committee of GIP as well as its Investment and Portfolio Valuation Committees. Matt is also a member of the Board of Directors of Freeport LNG, LLC and Hess Midstream Partners, LLC.
Prior to the formation of GIP in 2006, Matt was Co-Head of the Global Energy Group at Credit Suisse where he succeeded Adebayo Ogunlesi and served as Head of the EMEA Emerging Markets Group. Previously, he was a senior member of the Mergers and Acquisitions Group and served as Co-Head of Americas Mergers and Acquisitions at the firm. Before joining Credit Suisse, he was a senior member of the Mergers and Acquisitions Group at Kidder Peabody & Co. Inc.
As a leader in infrastructure investment, Matt has worked on over 150 transactions during his career, aggregating investments in excess of $250 billion in the United States, Canada and Mexico, Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Australasia.
Matt is the founder of Bedari, an impact company innovating at the intersection of sustainability, philanthropy and investment. Bedari’s portfolio is comprised of operating companies, issue-focused investments and philanthropic projects catalyzing change in mental health and wellness, energy transition and environmental conservation. Bedari is a founding investor in Chopra, a next generation healthcare company built around the work and teachings of Deepak Chopra. Through its Bedari Foundation arm, Bedari recently collaborated with the University of California at Los Angeles to establish a $20 million endowment to create the UCLA Bedari Kindness Institute dedicated to the research, education and practice of kindness. On the environmental front, Bedari has partnered with a group of visionary conservationists, investors and African communities to establish Karingani in Mozambique, a first-of-its-kind private reserve, restoring and conserving 150,000 hectares of some of Africa’s last remaining wilderness.
Matt holds a B.A. in Political Science (cum laude) from the University of California at Los Angeles. He is on the Board of Directors of the Chopra Foundation and the World Wildlife Fund and serves as Chairman of the Board of the Columbia University Center for Global Energy Policy.
Jennifer Harris
Jennifer Harris is a passionate conservationist, mental health advocate, and patron of modern and contemporary arts. Mother to three children, she is also an ardent supporter of mindfulness and kindness initiatives for children of all ages. She is cofounder of The Bedari Foundation, which invests in programs that further her family’s mission of helping to solve mental health and environmental issues.
Sue Smalley
Sue Smalley, Ph.D., Professor emerita in the Department of Psychiatry at UCLA, conducted seminal studies on the genetics of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum disorders, publishing over 100 peer reviewed papers in the field of behavioral genetics. In 2004, she founded the Mindful Awareness Research Center (MARC) at UCLA to increase mindfulness through research and education. She retired from UCLA and co-founded PTKCapital, a family investment fund that invests in early stage companies in wellness and entertainment. Sue has written extensively for Huffingtonpost and Psychology Today as well as co-authoring the book, Fully Present: the science., art and practice of mindfulness (Second edition, 2022). She recently helped co-create the Bedari Kindness Institute at UCLA.
Abel Valenzuela
Abel Valenzuela Jr. is the interim dean of UCLA’s Division of Social Sciences and professor of Labor Studies, Urban Planning and Chicana/o and Central American Studies. A member of UCLA’s faculty since 1994, Valenzuela has held several administrative leadership positions including chairing Chicana/o and Central American Studies, directing the Center for the Study of Urban Poverty and most recently serving as special advisor to the chancellor on immigration policy and as director of UCLA’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE).
During his tenure as director of IRLE, Valenzuela oversaw multiple units: Labor Studies, the Labor Center, the Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program (LOSH) and the Human Resources Round Table (HARRT), which are dedicated to advancing research, teaching and service on labor and employment issues in Los Angeles and beyond.
As one of the leading national experts on day labor, he has published numerous articles and technical reports on the subject. His research interests include precarious labor markets, worker centers, immigrant workers and Los Angeles.
In addition to the topic of day labor, Valenzuela has published numerous articles on immigrant settlement, labor market outcomes, urban poverty and inequality, and he continues to frame national public and policy conversations on immigrant and low-wage workers.
Valenzuela was born and raised in Los Angeles and currently lives in Venice Beach with his wife and three sons.