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.
Megan Cox
Program Coordinator
Megan Cox is a fourth year PhD student in Political Science. After a career in politics and government that took her from Oregon to Louisiana, Washington, D.C., Palau, the Thai-Burmese border and back to the West Coast, Megan has come to UCLA to study how people respond to their legislative institutions. She is excited to use the skills she has acquired to support BKI’s events and research efforts as our program coordinator. She is currently recruiting skiing buddies for weekend adventures, and invites inquiries from our community!
Shreya Sundar
Shreya Sundar is a fourth-year undergraduate student studying public health at UCLA with strong interests in health policy and management. Her passions lie in exploring substance use and behavioral health across the life course and examining preadolescence and adolescence as critical transition periods and formative for behavioral patterns and life outcomes. She developed an interest in dialogue facilitation through personal experiences struggling to effectively communicate with others and after seeing how campus climate transformed after October 7th, 2023 and recognizing the power of health communication to fuel progress. As a certified dialogue facilitator, she is keen on utilizing her training to create dialogue spaces that support overall wellbeing and community healing at UCLA and beyond. In the future, she hopes to pursue a masters in public health and attend medical school. Despite her training, Shreya still struggles to converse effectively with her family members, namely her dog Riley.
Regina Lee
Regina Lee is a fourth year Public Affairs and Economics student at UCLA. Originally from New York City, Regina began her advocacy career as a community organizer in environmental justice organizations, such as TREEage and Sunrise Movement NYC, and mutual aid organizer for community fridges across the city.
Regina’s philosophy in her advocacy work is to lead grounded in community and with an intersectional lens. She continues her work at UCLA as a Resident Assistant, the Director of Advocacy for House of Bruin, and the former events manager at UCLA Radio. Outside of UCLA, Regina used skills learned in community organizing with the larger LA area with youth advocacy group Young Invincivbles, mobility justice planning with LA County Anti-Racism, Diversity, and Inclusion (ARDI) Initiative, and dialogue with the Bedari Kindness Institute. Overall, Regina is dedicated to creating an inclusive and equitable future through action and in community.
Hannah Park
Hannah Park is a second-year English major on the pre-med track, minoring in Creative Writing. She aspires to specialize in child and adolescent psychiatry after her undergraduate studies. Her research interests currently include increasing access to mental health care and promoting kindness in medical practice, as well as exploring the role of AI in therapy and other healthcare settings. As a UCLA Learning Assistant for biological mathematics, an undergraduate student researcher implementing compassionate conversations into medical education via LLMs, and a volunteer in an international music program providing music therapy for seniors with neurodegenerative diseases, Hannah actively hones her skills of dialogue, active listening, and empathy in the community. At the Bedari Kindness Institute, Hannah is dedicated to fostering interfaith dialogue and telling stories as a trained journalist, photographer, and illustrator. Hannah also finds joy in running, making music, and nurturing California native plants.
Cylin Wang
Immigrant, conversationalist, and 5th year undergraduate student at UCLA, Cylin enjoys studying both Materials Engineering and Art History. She became interested in Dialogue across Difference not only as a place to bridge political divides and learn soft skills not taught elsewhere on campus, but most importantly to bring together students from across disciplines and studies. Despite the academic rigor of a dual-degree, she finds that the most important lessons she’s learned at UCLA comes from speaking and connecting with other people.
At Dialogue across Difference, Cylin’s work is to help generate graphic designs and develop a consistent visual representation of Dialogue across Difference initiative. As a Bruin Bridge-Builder fund recipient, she is attending the TEDNext 2025 Conference to learn organizational and communication skills, as well as bringing her learnings back to campus. She is driven by an unending curiosity to complex inner worlds of human ideas and identities.
Angel Flores Martinez
Angel Flores Martinez is majoring in Education and Social Transformation with a minor in Community Engagement and Social Change. He is passionate about educational equity and has supported students across K-12, undergraduate, and graduate levels. Angel has guided middle school students in their social-emotional development, advised high school students through the college access process, and mentored undergraduates through both peer mentorship and his work as a New Student Advisor. He has also supported graduate students in navigating campus resources and academic success. Across each role, Angel leads with care, patience, and cultural humility, and he believes that dialogue is essential to building trust and supportive learning environments. He is committed to uplifting community stories, expanding access to education, and ensuring that students feel seen and valued. Angel plans to pursue a career in high school counseling, where he hopes to continue creating pathways that allow students to grow, pursue their goals, and thrive. Angel enjoys spending time with his family and his 2 dogs and 1 cat!
Aaden Poyuzina
Aaden Poyuzina is a third-year undergraduate at UCLA double majoring in Political Science and Public Affairs. He is dedicated to fostering understanding and connection through open, honest dialogue. As Founder and President of the Common Ground Collective, Aaden leads a student-run organization that promotes dialogue facilitation across campus.
He has completed over 10 weeks of dialogue training and has since led an 8-week Israel-Palestine dialogue program, co-instructed a 4-unit dialogue course at UCLA, and organized a student-faculty dinner with university leadership, including the Chancellor. Aaden also expanded Anderson’s ECHO dialogue program to undergraduates to strengthen inclusive communication skills across disciplines. He is currently developing an Interfaith Dialogue program that unites students through common purpose, community service, and thoughtful conversation. He is committed to bridging divides across difference, though disparaging the Los Angeles Dodgers may require extra dialogue facilitators.
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.
Michelle Craske
Distinguished Professor of Psychology, and of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Kevin Love Fund Centennial Chair, Director of the Anxiety and Depression Research Center, and Associate Director of the Staglin Family Music Center for Behavioral and Brain Health
Michelle G. Craske, Ph.D., is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology, and of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Kevin Love Fund Centennial Chair, Director of the Anxiety and Depression Research Center, and Associate Director of the Staglin Family Music Center for Behavioral and Brain Health, at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is also co-director of the UCLA Depression Grand Challenge. She has published extensively in the area of fear, anxiety and depression, including over 570 peer reviewed journal articles as well as academic books and several self-help books and therapist guides, and is on the Web of Science Most Highly Cited Researcher List. She has been the recipient of extramural funding since 1993 for research projects pertaining to risk factors for anxiety and depression among children and adolescents, neural mediators of emotion regulation and behavioral treatments for anxiety disorders, fear extinction translational models for optimizing exposure therapy, novel behavioral therapies targeting reward sensitivity and anhedonia, and scalable treatment models for underserved populations. As part of the Depression Grand Challenge, she developed the STAND program for screening, tracking and treating anxiety and depression. She is Editor-in-Chief for Behaviour Research and Therapy. Dr. Craske received her BA Hons from the University of Tasmania and her Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia.
Julie A. Elginer
Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management
Julie Elginer is an assistant professor with dual appointments in both the Department of Health Policy and Management and Community Health Science within the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Dr. Elginer teaches Healthcare Marketing, Healthcare Financial Management and Reproductive Health Advocacy. She has been recognized by the Public Health Student Association for excellence in teaching several times. In addition, she serves in an advisory capacity to the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) – Los Angeles chapter. In 2012, NAPNAP-LA presented her with their highest award for a non-clinician given annually to the person who most advanced the practice of nursing in the Los Angeles area. Dr. Elginer received her DrPH from UCLA.
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.
Salma Mousa
Assistant Professor Department Faculty of Political Science
What does social cohesion look like, and how can it be built — especially after violent conflict? I partner with local governments and NGOs in the Middle East (and beyond) to answer these questions, typically using field experiments. My research has been published in Science and the American Political Science Review, and covered by media outlets like The Economist, the BBC, Der Spiegel, Freakonomics, the Times of London, and PBS NOVA. I received my PhD from Stanford University’s political science department in 2020, and my BSc from Georgetown University in Qatar. Before joining UCLA, I was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Yale University.
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
Matthew Harris is one of five Founding Partners of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). GIP, now a part of BlackRock, is recognized as one of the world’s leading infrastructure private equity firms, investing globally in the energy, transportation, water and waste and digital infrastructure sectors by combining deep industry expertise and relationships with best practice operational management.
As part of the leadership team at GIP since the firm was started in 2006, 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 $150.0 billion for its investors in high quality infrastructure assets and businesses in both OECD and developing countries. Matt has championed GIP’s forward-leaning approach to growth and innovation, helping complete 16 strategic partnerships, and leading the firm’s entry into new markets including infrastructure in developing countries and new energies infrastructure critical to global decarbonization and the energy transition. He is a member of GIP’s, Investment Committees across its various fund products and its Portfolio Valuation Committee. He is a member of the Board of Directors of GE Vernova, the independent public company created following its spin-off from General Electric.
Prior to the formation of GIP in 2006, Matt was Co-Head of the Global Energy Group at Credit Suisse First Boston 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. Before joining Credit Suisse First Boston, he was a senior member of the Mergers and Acquisitions Group at Kidder Peabody & Co. Incorporated.
Matt is the founder of The bedari collective, an impact organization investing in solutions that acknowledge the importance of regenerative systems including built infrastructure –supporting the ability for individuals, communities and the planet to heal and grow, together. The bedari collective takes a holistic approach to problem-solving and solutions-creation, combining research, education and both market-based and philanthropic impact strategies to synergistically move ideas forward and drive systems change. The bedari portfolio consists of operating companies, issue-focused investments and philanthropic programs, all designed around a shared set of criteria that help to effectively invest bedari’s human, knowledge and financial capital.
Matt is a minority owner of the Cleveland Guardians Major League Baseball team.
Matt holds a B.A. in Political Science (cum laude) from the University of California at Los Angeles. He serves as Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Columbia University Center for Global Energy Policy, is a member of the Columbia University Climate School Advisory Board and the UCLA College of Social Sciences Dean’s Advisory Board and is a member of the Board of Directors of Pioneer Works and the World Wildlife Fund.
Sue Smalley, Ph.D.
Scientist, Founder, Creator, Writer, Investor, and Activist
Sue Smalley is a scientist, writer, and entrepreneur whose work blends behavioral science, mindfulness, and social impact. After three decades as a professor at UCLA, focusing on genetics and behavioral disorders like Autism and ADHD, she expanded her research into mindfulness, founding the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center and co-authoring Fully Present: The Science, Art, and Practice of Mindfulness. She’s also written for Huffington Post and Psychology Today on happiness and well-being.
Sue co-founded PTK Capital, a family investment fund focused on building companies that improve the human condition. In addition, she chairs the Executive Committee and is a co- founder of the Bedari Kindness Institute at UCLA, leading efforts to integrate science and social impact. Smalley is an emeritus board member of Equality Now, a global organization advocating for women’s and girls’ rights.
In recent years, Smalley has expanded her focus to include writing books and scripts that explore themes of well-being, human connection, and creativity. Through her creative work, she continues to use storytelling as a transformative tool to drive impact and inspire change.
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.
