I am a multidisciplinary scholar who draws on the social sciences to explore issues of inequality in the work place, in neighborhoods and cities, and on issues related to immigration including newcomers and their settlement, their engagement in work, and leadership development among youth to empower for social change. For the past few years, I’ve worked on issues related to undocumented immigrants and their engagement at UCLA as they confront hostilities and conflict as part of a negative national narrative and scapegoating of newcomers. I’ve been at UCLA for 25 years and was born and raised in Los Angeles.