University of Southern California, Davidson Conference CenterTuesday, April 22, 2008

8:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Immigrant Integration and the American Future:

Lessons From And For California

�e conference will bring together academics, policymakers, and community leaders to discuss experiences and practices of immigrant integration, highlighting the interwoven interests of immigrants and host communities, and the mutuality

of our fates. �e aim will be to de�ne a strategic research agenda on issues and policies for successful immigrant integration, with a special focus on Los Angeles and California.

A Conference Hosted by the

University of Southern California

Organized by:USC Population Dynamics Research GroupUSC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity

Sponsored by:USC Provost Initiative on Immigrant Integration, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, USC College of Le�ers, Arts and Sciences

Additional sponsors: California Community Foundation, Tomás Rivera Policy Institute, and USC Center for Diversity and Democracy.

In July 2007, the U.S. Senate found itself facing the most significant immigration reform package in nearly two decades – and blinked. While the failure to secure reform at the national level has led to much discussion, it has not changed the critical issue: the growing presence of immigrants and their children in virtually every region of the United States and the increasing intertwining of immigrant lives with that of their host communities. This is particularly true in Southern California where in Los Angeles County alone, one-third of residents are foreign-born, nearly half the workforce is immigrant, and two-thirds of those under 18 are children of immigrants.

In light of this issue, the University of Southern California has chosen to host the conference, “Immigrant Integration and the American Future: Lessons From and For California” with the aim to define a strategic research agenda on issues and policies for successful immigrant integration, with a special focus on Los Angeles and California. As such, the conference has brought together nationally prominent academics, policymakers, activists, and community leaders to discuss experiences and practices of immigrant integration, highlighting the interwoven interests of immigrants and host communities and the mutuality of our fates.

ORGANIZED BY:USC Population Dynamics Research Group USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity

SPONSORED BY:USC Provost Initiative on Immigrant Integration USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences

ADDITIONAL SPONSORSHIP BY:California Community Foundation Tomás Rivera Policy Institute USC Center for Diversity and Democracy

ABOUT Immigrant Integration and the American Future

2

AGENDA at a glanceTIME EVENT VENUE

8:00 – 8:30 am Breakfast Lobby

8:30 – 8:40 am Welcome Embassy Room

8:40 – 9:00 am Opening Remarks Embassy Room

9:00 – 10:30 am

Morning Panel Immigration Integration and the Popular

Narrative: Framing and Re-Framing the Issue

Embassy Room

10:30 – 10:45 am 15 minute break

10:45 am – 12:15 pm Breakout Sessions

Immigrant Integration and Educational Achievement

Immigrant Integration and Community Building

Immigrant Integration and Civic Engagement

Immigrant Integration and Interethnic Relations

Immigrant Integration and Workforce Development

Immigrant Integration and Social Reception

Figueroa Room

Vineyard Room Club Room Cardinal and Gold Room Boardroom Alumni Room

12:15 pm Lunch Embassy Room

12:30 – 1:30 pm Keynote Speaker Embassy Room

1:30 – 3:20 pm Afternoon Panel Immigrant Integration and Public Policy:

Where do We Go From Here?

Embassy Room

3:20 – 3:30 pm Next Steps Future directions for research and USC

Embassy Room

3:30 – 4:00 pm Closing Remarks Embassy Room

4:00 pm Networking Reception Lobby

3

SCHEDULE locations and speakers

8:00 – 8:30 am BreakfastLocation: Lobby

8:30 – 8:40 am WelcomeLocation: Embassy Room

• Howard Gillman, Dean of USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences • Jack Knott, Dean of USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development

8:40 - 9:00 am Opening Remarks

Location: Embassy Room

Immigrant Integration: Why We Need It, Why It Matters

• Henry Cisneros, CityView • Manuel Pastor, University of Southern California

9:00 – 10:30 am Morning PanelLocation: Embassy Room

Immigrant Integration and the Popular Narrative: Framing and Re-Framing the Issue

Moderator: Manuel Pastor, University of Southern California

Participants:

• Maria Echaveste, University of California, Berkeley • Antonia Hernández, California Community Foundation • Bill O. Hing, University of California, Davis • Dowell Myers, University of Southern California • Robert K. Ross, The California Endowment

10:30 – 10:45 am 15 minute break

4

10:45 am – 12:15 pm Breakout Sessions

Immigrant Integration and Educational AchievementLocation: Figueroa Room

Education offers the tools to advance within institutions and society at large. From high school to adult education, an improved educational system is vital to ensuring that immigrants and their families fully benefit and contribute to society. This workshop will discuss issues related to immigrant integration at all levels of education, and in doing so, will augment existing discourse on improving economic realities for immigrants.

Moderator: Harry Pachon, University of Southern California

Participants:

• Estela Bensimon, University of Southern California • David Crippens, Youth Council Chair, Los Angeles Workforce Investment Board • Patricia Gándara, University of California, Los Angeles • Margie McHugh, MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy

Immigrant Integration and Workforce Development

Location: Board Room

In California, 37 percent of the workforce is foreign born, and in Los Angeles it is nearly 50 percent. Correspondingly, immigrants are clearly integral to the California’s trade and commerce, and yet they also tend to be in low-skill and low-wage occupations with limited opportunities to move up the economic ladder. By increasing opportunities for economic mobility, immigrant families and communities can help improve Los Angeles’ economy. This panel will delve into the possibilities of what businesses, foundations, and community organizations can do to improve the skill base of the labor force in general, and uplift the economic standing of the foreign born population in particular.

Moderator: Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, University of Southern California

Participants:

• Héctor Cordero-Guzmán, Ford Foundation • Stephen Levy, Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy • Jason Marczak, Policy Director, American Society / Council of the Americas • David Rattray, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce

5

Immigrant Integration and Civic EngagementLocation: Club Room

Immigrants, as residents and members of society, need a space to express their opinions and participate in civic life. This spirit of engagement will hopefully persist as many of these residents become U.S. citizens. This panel will look at the work of community organizations and academics in introducing immigrants to the American political process and helping them to actively engage the system.

Moderator: David Ayón, Loyola Marymount University

Participants:

• Marvin Andrade, Central American Resource Center • Rini Chakraborty, Sweatshop Watch • Joshua Hoyt, Illonois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights • Karthick Ramakrishnan, University of California, Riverside • Arturo Vargas, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials

Immigrant Integration and Interethnic Relations

Location: Cardinal and Gold Room

Acknowledging mutual responsibility and mutual destiny is crucial to immigrant integration. An important place for this work is in multi-ethnic coalitions that can cross lines of race and space. This panel will look into a variety of examples and experiences around coalition building and interethnic relations from Los Angeles and beyond.

Moderator: Amon Emeka, University of Southern California

Participants:

• Teresa Castellanos, Immigration Relations and Integration Services, Santa Clara County • Denise Fairchild, Community Development Technologies Center • George Sanchez, University of Southern California • Bill Watanabe, Little Tokyo Center

6

Immigrant Integration and Community BuildingLocation: Vineyard Room

Creating person-to-person and community-to-community relationships can generate bonds of understanding and bring together immigrant and non-immigrant populations to improve overall community well-being. This panel will explore the role of non-profits, labor, and interfaith constituencies in building a vibrant and diverse united community.

Moderator: Janelle Wong, University of Southern California

Participants:

• Mark Gomez, Strengthening Our Lives • Ali Modarres, California State University, Los Angeles • Alexia Salvatierra, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice of California • Kent Wong, University of California, Los Angeles

Immigrant Integration and Social ReceptionLocation: Alumni Room

Immigrant integration is fostered by establishing a sense of openness to immigrants in all communities. Recently, that welcome has diminished, mostly due to economic insecurity, fear of cultural change, and the sheer scale of immigration. When a complex issue gets reduced to sound bites and accusations, the way around this barrier involves changing attitudes and realities. Underscoring the importance of immigrants to the regional economy, and promoting awareness about immigrant communities can encourage an attitude shift for native born populations, while working towards a shared understanding. This panel will showcase work of organizations and academics working towards a more receptive host community.

Moderator: Susan Alva, Occidental College

Participants:

• Michael Dear, University of Southern California • Hamid Khan, South Asian Network • Clarissa Martinez de Castro, National Council of La Raza • Angelica Salas, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles • Abel Valenzuela, University of California, Los Angeles

7

12:15 pm LunchLocation: Embassy Room

12:30 pm Keynote AddressLocation: Embassy Room

Greeting: Elizabeth Garrett, Vice President for Academic Planning and Budget, University of Southern California

Immigrant Integration and Immigration Reform: Making the Links, Finding Our Roles

Gara LaMarche, Atlantic Philanthropies

1:30 – 3:20 pm Afternoon PanelLocation: Embassy Room

Immigrant Integration and Public Policy: What Do We Need to Know and Where Do We Go From Here?

Moderator: Manuel Pastor, University of Southern California

Participants:

• Ernesto Cortes, One LA - Industrial Areas Foundation • Maria Elena Durazo, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO • Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Community Coalition • Tamar Jacoby, Manhattan Institute • Stewart Kwoh, Asian Pacific American Legal Center • Roberto Suro, University of Southern California

3:20 – 3:30 pm Next Steps for Research and USC

Location: Embassy Room

Dowell Myers and Manuel Pastor, University of Southern California

3:30 – 4:00 pm Closing RemarksLocation: Embassy Room

Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles

4:00 pm Networking ReceptionLocation: Lobby

8

SPEAKER BiographiesSusan Alva Founder and Director, Migration Policy and Resource Center at the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute, Occidental College Susan Alva is the Founder and Director of the Migration Policy and Resource Center at Occidental College’s Urban and Environmental Policy Institute in Los Angeles. Previously, Susan was the Director of the Immigration and Citizenship Project of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA). She has also worked as the Directing Attorney of Public Counsel’s Legalization Appeals Project, and as the Supervising Attorney for the L.A. Center for Law and Justice in East L.A., as well as with other organizations, including the Immigration Unit of San Diego’s Legal Aid Society, the United Farm Workers, and the California Rural Legal Assistance in the San Joaquin Valley. Throughout her career, she has represented hundreds of immigrants and workers in immigration, deportation defense, and labor issues. She is on the Boards of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild and the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

Marvin H. Andrade Executive Director, Central American Resource Center Marvin H. Andrade is the Executive Director at the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), an immigrant rights institution, where he has spent nearly a decade as an immigrant rights advocate, serving in different capacities including Civic Participation Director, and Director of Policy, Technology, Education, and Community Development Programs. At CARECEN, he has worked in collaboration with other community based organizations and labor unions to reform existing immigration laws, secure family reunification, preserve the protection of refugees, ensure the fair treatment of immigrant workers, and help pass legislation with a path to permanent legal residence for all undocumented immigrants. Born in El Salvador, Mr. Andrade grew up in the working class and long time immigrant community of El Monte, east of Los Angeles. His experiences as an undocumented immigrant, English language learner, and 1986 Amnesty Law (Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986) recipient, shaped his appreciation for the political process. He studied Political Science and International Relations at the University of Southern California.

David R. Ayón Senior Research Associate and U.S. Director, ‘Focus Mexico Project’ at the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University David R. Ayón is Senior Research Associate and U.S. Director of the ‘Focus Mexico Project’ at the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University. The ‘Focus Mexico’ project is an ongoing bi-national study of the political relationship between Mexico and Mexican-origin leaders in the U.S. (both immigrants and the U.S.-born), which will result in a book on “The Politics of the Mexican Diaspora.” Ayón is also a contributing editor to the Spanish-language edition of the journal Foreign Affairs and is a political analyst, writer and lecturer specializing in Mexican politics, U.S.-Mexico relations, and Latino politics in the United States. He has worked as an analyst, consultant, and special producer for Spanish language television news during each electoral cycle in the U.S. and Mexico since 1992.

9

Estela Mara Bensimon Professor of Higher Education, University of Southern California, and Director, Center for Urban Education, Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California Estela Mara Bensimon is a Professor of Higher Education and the Director of the Center for Urban Education (CUE) at the USC Rossier School of Education. With the support of several foundations and organizations, she and her colleagues at CUE design and field-test inquiry tools and methods. Dr. Bensimon has held the highest leadership positions in the Association for the Study of Higher Education (President, 2005-2006) and in the American Education Research Association-Division on Postsecondary Education (Vice-President 1992-1994). She has served on the Boards of the American Association for Higher Education and the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Dr. Bensimon was Associate Dean of the USC Rossier School of Education from 1996-2000 and was a Fulbright Scholar to Mexico in 2002. She has written several publications about equity, organizational learning, practitioner inquiry and change. She earned her doctorate in Higher Education from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Teresa Castellanos Program Manager, Immigrant Relations and Integration Services (IRIS), Office of Human Resources, Santa Clara County, California Teresa Castellanos has worked with immigrant communities for over 20 years. She has been a labor organizer with Justice for Janitors and the Health Workers Union. She worked for Catholic Charities’ Immigration Program leading the organizations citizenship efforts. She has worked with county government in the Santa Clara County Citizenship and Immigrant programs for 13 years. She is currently the Program Manager of IRIS: Immigrant Relations and Integration Services for the Office of Human Relations. IRIS has several projects including the coordination of an annual citizenship day event in 14 languages, bimonthly forums, an immigrant leadership course, immigrant community education projects, an interactive web site: www.immigrantinfo.org, the Immigrant Speakers Bureau, and the Immigrant Survivors of Domestic Violence Committee. In 1999 she staffed the project that conducted research of immigrant communities in Santa Clara County, CA. She contributed to Bridging Borders in Silicon Valley and KIN: Knowledge of Immigrant Nationalities, two books based on the data from the Summit on Immigrant Needs and Contributions.

Rini Chakraborty Executive Director, Sweatshop Watch Rini Chakraborty is the Executive Director of Sweatshop Watch, a nationally and globally recognized coalition of over 30 labor, community, civil rights, immigrant rights, women’s, religious and student organizations committed to eliminating the exploitation that occurs in sweatshops. Prior to stepping into this position, Rini was the Senior Policy Analyst/Post 9-11 Organizer for the ACLU of Southern California. She also served as the Director and principal policy advocate for the California Immigrant Welfare Collaborative (CIWC). During her tenure with CIWC, she spearheaded the successful campaign to permanently restore all major health and welfare benefits for immigrants at the state level after passage of the 1996 federal welfare law. She also played an instrumental role in broad-based coalition efforts to gain in-state tuition for California students regardless of immigration status; driver’s licenses for immigrants; and funding for increased compliance with state language access laws. Previously, Rini worked with the Northern California Coalition for Immigrant Rights and the ACLU of Northern California.

10

Henry Cisneros Executive Chairman, CityView Henry Cisneros serves as Executive Chairman of CityView, a national housing investor that provides financing for America’s urban home builders. Throughout his career, Mr. Cisneros has held several leadership positions which include being the first Hispanic-American mayor of a major U.S. city (San Antonio, Texas), Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and President and Chief Operating Officer of Univision Communications. Mr. Cisneros holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Texas A&M University. He earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University, a doctorate in Public Administration from George Washington University, and has been awarded more than 20 honorary doctorates from leading universities. He has received numerous awards honoring his work and service as a public official and housing advocate. He has also been the author, editor or collaborator of several books addressing urban planning and city design.

Héctor R. Cordero-Guzmán Program Officer, Economic Development Unit of the Asset Building and Community Development Program at the Ford Foundation Dr. Héctor R. Cordero-Guzmán is a Program Officer in the Economic Development Unit of the Asset Building and Community Development Program at the Ford Foundation. Prior to joining Ford, Dr. Cordero-Guzmán was a Professor in the Ph.D. Programs in Sociology and Urban Education at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center and a Professor and Chair of the Black and Hispanic Studies Department at Baruch College of the City University of New York. Dr. Cordero-Guzmán received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Sociology from the University of Chicago.

Ernesto Cortes, Jr. Southwest Regional Director, Industrial Areas Foundation Ernesto Cortes, Jr. is the Southwest Regional Director of the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), a non-profit organization founded in Chicago by the late Saul Alinsky to which he has been affiliated since 1972. Cortes founded Communities Organized for Public Service, COPS, the well-known and highly effective church-based grassroots organization, located in his native San Antonio, as well as other community-based organizations in cities throughout Texas and the southwest. Together, these organizations are called the Southwest IAF Network. Under Cortes’ supervision, the network’s organizations have developed successful initiatives in the areas of job training, economic development, citizenship and education, including the Alliance School Initiative, which works to engage communities in school restructuring and reform. Cortes has received numerous awards and fellowships for his work, including most recently the H. J. Heinz Award for Public Policy and an appointment as a Martin Luther King Visiting Professor at MIT in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning.

David Crippens Former Senior Vice President for Education, KCET in Los Angeles, California David Crippens’ career has been one of service. He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nigeria. His 32-year career in public broadcasting began as a Corporation for Public Broadcasting fellow and he retired as a Senior Vice President for Education at KCET in Los Angeles, California. Since 2001, David has been an Interim Executive Administrator for various non-profit organizations ranging from a museum to an environmental organization. He serves on several Executive Committee’s of Boards such as the City of Los Angeles’ Workforce Investment Board and the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Bond Oversight Committee. David is also one of the Vice Chairs of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. He has received many awards for his career work and non-profit service. David has been the Chair of the 123-year old Second Baptist Church’s Board of Trustees for the past 12 years.

11

Michael Dear Professor of Geography and Urban Planning, University of Southern California, and Honorary Professor, Bartlett School of Planning, University College, London (England) Michael Dear is Professor of Geography and Urban Planning at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and Honorary Professor in the Bartlett School of Planning at University College, London (England). He has been a Guggenheim Fellowship holder as well as Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford and the Rockefeller Center in Bellagio, Italy. His current work examines the evolution and future of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Recent publications include Urban Latino Cultures; la vida latina en L.A. (1999), and Postborder City: cultural spaces of Bajalta California (2003). He curated “La frontera portátil / the Portable Border: Perspectives on the U.S./Mexico Borderlands,” at USC’s Doheny Memorial Library, and “Mixed Feelings: art and culture in the postborder metropolis/Sentimientos Contradictorios: arte y cultura en la metrópolis posfronteriza,” at USC’s Fisher Gallery.

Maria Elena Durazo Executive Secretary -Treasurer, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO Maria Elena Durazo serves as Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, which represents over 800,000 workers in every key industry. Before leading the Federation, Maria Elena was President of the hotel workers union UNITE-HERE, Local 11, one of the most active unions in Los Angeles County. In July 1996, Ms. Durazo became the first Latina elected to the Executive Board of HERE International Union. Her election to the Executive Board was followed by her 2001 election as General Vice-President of HERE International. In 2003, Ms. Durazo became National Director of the Immigrant Workers’ Freedom Ride, a national mobilization campaign initiated by HERE International to address the nation’s immigration laws. In 2004, she was elected to serve as Executive Vice President of the newly formed UNITE-HERE International. Ms. Durazo graduated from St. Mary’s College in Moraga and earned a law degree from the People’s College of Law in 1985.

Maria Echaveste Co-Founder & Partner, Nueva Vista Group, and Lecturer in Residence, UC Berkeley, School of Law Maria Echaveste is co-founder and partner of Nueva Vista Group, a consulting firm based in Washington, D.C., that works with nonprofit organizations, associations and corporations on such issues as immigration, health care, telecommunications, labor and finances. She also is a Lecturer in Residence at the UC Berkeley School of Law. Previously, she has served as a senior White House and U.S. Department of Labor official, and worked as a community leader and corporate attorney. From 1998 to 2001, she served as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton. Ms. Echaveste held the post of Director of the Office of Public Liaison at the White House from 1997 to 1998. From 1993 to 1997, she was the administrator of the labor department’s Wage and Hour Division. Ms. Echaveste received a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Stanford University in 1976. In 1980, she received a Juris Doctor from UC Berkeley.

Amon Emeka Professor of Sociology, University of Southern California Amon Emeka is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Southern California. His primary research interests lay in the areas of racial inequality, immigrant adaptation, and social demography. Currently, he is engaged in two research projects. The first is an NIH-funded collaboration with researchers in the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development that gauges immigrant adaptation to life in the US by tracing socioeconomic advancements of cohorts of immigrants from 1980 to 1990 to 2000 using US Census data. The second project is currently funded by the USC Provost’s Office and

12

uses US Census and American Community Survey data to identify the most stubborn racial divisions in the US society and economy. Professor Emeka’s previous research and writings can be found in scholarly journals, Social Science History and Reading on Educational Equity. Professor Emeka earned his PhD from the University of Washington.

Denise Fairchild President, Community Development Technologies Center Denise Fairchild is the founder and president of the Community Development Technologies Center at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, a community development training, applied research, and technical assistance organization specializing in community development strategies. Fairchild also co-chairs the Los Angeles Urban Consortium, dedicated to improving South Central Los Angeles’ retail environment. She previously served as Program Director of the Los Angeles Local Initiatives Support Corporation, which seeks ways for neighborhood revitalization programs to finance their efforts and link capital markets to Los Angeles’ low-income regions. Fairchild received her Ph.D. in Urban Planning at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Patricia Gándara Professor of Education, University of California, Los Angeles, and Co-Director, Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles, UCLA Professor Gándara is Co-Director of the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at UCLA. Her research focuses on educational equity and access for low income and ethnic minority students, language policy, and the education of Mexican origin youth. She recently completed a study with her colleague Russell Rumberger, entitled, “Resource Needs for California’s English Learners,” as part of the statewide Adequacy Project funded by four major foundations. She is currently launching a bi-national project with Mexico to use Mexican secondary curriculum online that has been aligned with A-G and California standards in secondary classrooms in California to help stem the dropout of immigrant students who find there is no viable curriculum for them in our high schools.

Elizabeth Garrett Vice President for Academic Planning and Budget, University of Southern California, and Sydney M. Irmas Professor of Public Interest Law, Legal Ethics, Political Science, and Policy, Planning and Development, University of Southern California Elizabeth Garrett is the Vice President for Academic Planning and Budget at the University of Southern California and the Sydney M. Irmas Professor of Public Interest Law, Legal Ethics, Political Science, and Policy, Planning, and Development. She is also the co-Director of the USC-Caltech Center for the Study of Law and Politics (CSLP). She served as Vice Provost of Academic Affairs for the academic year 2005-06. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Initiative and Referendum Institute at USC which is affiliated with the CSLP. President George W. Bush appointed her to serve on the nine-member bipartisan Tax Reform Panel which released its final report in November 2005. She is the Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee of the National Governing Board of Common Cause. Before joining the USC faculty, she was a Professor of Law at the University of Chicago, where she also served as Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs. She is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a member of the editorial board of the Election Law Journal.

Howard Gillman Dean and Professor of Political Science and History, USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences Howard Gillman is Dean of the USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences and Professor of Political Science and History. He is a nationally recognized scholar, longtime faculty member and innovative leader in university and community affairs. Gillman has received numerous scholarly awards and been recognized repeatedly by USC for his teaching, service and mentorship. An expert on political and judicial affairs, he is frequently quoted by national media. A native of Los Angeles, Gillman has been

13

active in civic affairs. He has evaluated curriculum at local schools, trained public school teachers, served on the board of Temple Isaiah in West Los Angeles and coached youth sports teams. Gillman holds the Anna H. Bing Dean’s Chair in the USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences.

Mark Gomez Communications Coordinator, Strengthening Our Lives – California Mark Gomez is currently the Communications Coordinator for SOL-California, a non-profit dedicated to increasing the civic participation of recent immigrant Latinos. Over the last twenty years, he has worked for membership based labor and community organizations as an industry analyst, politi-cal researcher and strategic planner. At Justice for Janitors, his Rising Out of Poverty contract campaign lifted the annual income of Silicon Valley area cleaners by $2,000 above inflation. The campaign garnered unprecedented newspaper and media coverage. Mr. Gomez was born in Havana, Cuba to an Irish-New Yorker mom and a Colombian dad. He grew up in New York City and remains a loyal Yankee fan.

Marqueece Harris-Dawson Executive Director, Community Coalition Marqueece has been a dedicated activist for more than twenty years. He completed his Bachelor’s degree at Morehouse College and while there, cut his activist teeth on several important community issues. Currently, he is the Executive Director of Community Coalition, a community-based organization in South Los Angeles. For five years, Marqueece ran the Community Coalition youth project, South Central Youth Empowered thru Action, as Program Director. During that time, he led a campaign to expose the poor learning conditions at South Los Angeles High Schools. In addition to his work at Community Coalition, Marqueece has extensive experience in electoral politics and is a key participant in the Progressive Movement in Los Angeles. Marqueece was a delegate to the United Nations World Conference Against Racism (2001, Durban, South Africa) and the World Festival of Students and Youth (1997, Havana, Cuba) and serves on a myriad of boards, committees and organization affiliations. Recently, Marqueece received a certificate in Non-Profit Management from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

Antonia Hernández President and Chief Executive Officer, California Community Foundation Antonia Hernández joined the California Community Foundation as President and Chief Executive Officer in 2004. Previously, she was President and General Counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF). Ms. Hernández began her legal career as a staff attorney with the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice and worked as counsel to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. She also serves as a Trustee and Board Member of several organizations. She is a frequent public speaker and has been awarded a number of honorary degrees and awards. Hernández is a member of the State Bar of California, District of Columbia Bar, American Bar Association and the Mexican American Bar Association of Los Angeles and a fellow of the American Law Institute. Ms. Hernández earned her B.A. in History at UCLA in 1970 and J.D. at the UCLA School of Law in 1974.

Bill O. Hing Professor of Law, University of California, Davis Bill Ong Hing is a Professor of Law at the University of California, Davis, where he also directs the law school clinical program. His books include Deporting Our Souls—Morality, Values, and Immigration Policy (Cambridge University Press 2006), Defining America Through Immigration Policy (Temple University Press 2004), Making and Remaking Asian America Through Immigration Policy (Stanford University. Press 1993), Handling Immigration Cases (Aspen Publishers 1995), and Immigration and the Law—a Dictionary (ABC-CLIO 1999). His book To Be An American, Cultural

14

Pluralism and the Rhetoric of Assimilation (NYU Press 1997) received the award for Outstanding Academic Book in 1997 by the librarians’ journal Choice. He was also co-counsel in the precedent-set-ting Supreme Court asylum case, INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca (1987). Professor Hing is the founder of, and continues to volunteer as General Counsel for, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center in San Francisco.

Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Sociology at the University of Southern California Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo is Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Sociology at the University of Southern California. Her published research has focused on gender and immigration, informal sector work, and religion and the immigrant rights movement. Her book, Domestica: Immigrant Workers Cleaning and Caring in the Shadows of Affluence (UC Press 2001, 2007), won six awards from professional associations. Her new book, God’s Heart Has No Borders, is forthcoming from the University of California Press in fall 2008.

Joshua Hoyt Director, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights Joshua Hoyt is the Director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. He has worked a total of 28 years as an organizer for social justice in Chicago, Baltimore, and in the countries of Spain, Peru, and Panama. He has served as president of the Citizen’s Utility Board of Illinois and most recently served as the Associate Director of United Power for Action and Justice, an ambitious metropolitan wide citizen organizing effort that was part of the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) network. He was the lead organizer of United Power’s Gilead Campaign for the Uninsured, which resulted in the creation of FamilyCare in Illinois. Josh was educated at the University of Illinois and the Universidad Central de Barcelona, Spain, and received his Master’s from the University of Chicago. He has testified before Congress; spoken to such national media as the Leher News Hour, the O’Reilly Factor, and the New York Times; written numerous articles; and directed political campaigns.

Tamar Jacoby Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute Tamar Jacoby, a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, writes extensively on immigration and citizenship. She is a leading conservative voice in the media and elsewhere in favor of immigration reform, and works to organize the center-right behind reform proposals taking shape in Washington. In addition to publishing several books, Ms. Jacoby has written articles and essays that have been published in a variety of periodicals, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Financial Times, The Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, National Review, The Weekly Standard, Commentary, The New York Review of Books, Dissent and Foreign Affairs. In addition to her published writings and media commentary, she has worked behind the scenes in Washington to help develop immigration policy, writing policy papers, testifying in Congress and working with a range of congressional offices. A graduate of Yale University, she has taught at Yale, Cooper Union and the New School University.

Hamid Khan Executive Director, South Asian Network Hamid Khan is the Executive Director of the South Asian Network (SAN). Hamid Khan’s vision of a progressive South Asian community had led SAN to turn the very issues that have traditionally divided the South Asian community into the agency’s driving force. In addition to his role at SAN, Hamid also serves on the Boards of the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research and the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, a national forum that works to promote a just

15

immigration and refugee policy in the United States and to defend and expand the rights of all immigrants and refugees. Hamid was selected for the 2003, LA Stories: The Power of One by the Facing History and Ourselves, an organization whose mission is to engage students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice and anti-Semitism. Hamid was also honored by the California State Assembly in 2006 for “Excellence in public service and his dedication and contributions to the people of the State of California and beyond.”

Jack H. Knott Dean, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development Jack H. Knott, former Professor of Public Policy and Management at the University of Illinois, was named Dean of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and holder of the C. Erwin and Ione L. Piper Dean’s Chair in August 2005. In 2007, Knott was named a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. Previously, Knott served on the faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Chicago. There, he directed the university’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs and held a joint appointment as Professor of Political Science at Urbana-Champaign. Knott has also taught at Michigan State University and held visiting professorships at the University of Arizona and the University of Warwick in the U.K. Knott holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from UC Berkeley, a Master of Arts in Economics and Comparative Politics from the School of Advanced Inter-national Studies at Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Stewart Kwoh Founding President and Executive Director, Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California Stewart Kwoh is the founding President and Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California (APALC), which he started in 1983. Under his leadership, APALC has become a key advocate for poor and limited English proficient APAs in Southern California, as well as in California and the United States. Mr. Kwoh earned his B.A. from UCLA and his law degree from UCLA School of Law. He is the co-author of Searching for the Uncommon Common Ground: New Dimensions on Race in America (2002). He is currently working on a book about Asian American civil rights heroes entitled Untold Civil Rights Stories: Asian American Voices for Justice. Mr. Kwoh was the 2007 recipient of the Loren Miller Legal Services Award from the State Bar of California, given annually to a lawyer who has demonstrated long-term commitment to legal services and who has personally done significant work in extending legal services to the poor.

Gara LaMarche President and Chief Executive Officer, Atlantic Philanthropies Gara LaMarche is President and CEO of the Atlantic Philanthropies. Previously, LaMarche served as Vice President and Director of U.S. Programs for the Open Society Institute (OSI), Associate Director of Human Rights Watch and Director of its Free Expression Project, and Director of the Freedom-to-Write Program of the PEN American Center. As well, he was the Associate Director of the ACLU’s New York branch and the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas. LaMarche is the author of numerous articles on human rights and social justice issues and is the Editor of Speech and Equality: Do We Really Have to Choose? He teaches at New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service, and has taught at New School University and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. LaMarche serves on the boards of PEN American Center and The White House Project, as a member of the Advisory Committee for the Sundance Documentary Fund, and on the Leadership Council of Hispanics in Philanthropy.

16

Stephen Levy Director and Senior Economist, Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy Stephen Levy is Director and Senior Economist of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy (CCSCE) in Palo Alto. Stephen Levy is the principal author of CCSCE’s annual report series on the California economy, which has acquired a national reputation for credible and independent analyses. Recently, Mr. Levy has been doing research on the impact of immigration on the California economy. As well, he created the California Budget Challenge and Budget IQ Quiz in partnership with Next Ten. He has also worked with the Rockefeller and San Francisco Foundations to present work-shops that serve as a forum for discussing the relationship between the state economy and budget. Mr. Levy often asked to speak before public and private groups and has a reputation for being frank and provocative. He is a member of the NOVA (Silicon Valley) Workforce Board and an advisor to the California Economic Strategy Panel. Stephen Levy has degrees in Economics from MIT and Stanford University.

Jason Marczak Director for Policy, Americas Society and Council of the Americas, and Senior Editor, Americas Quarterly Jason Marczak is Director for Policy at the Americas Society and Council of the Americas and Senior Editor of the AS/COA policy journal, Americas Quarterly. In this capacity, he directs the AS/COA Hispanic Integration Initiative, a Rockefeller Foundation-funded effort that is working with leaders of corporations in key sectors of the U.S. economy to catalogue and showcase best practices that promote Hispanic integration. Previously, Mr. Marczak was a Program Officer with Partners of the Americas’ Center for Civil Society, where he leveraged civil society engagement in multilateral policy processes and managed development programs throughout the hemisphere. From 1999 to 2001, he was a Legislative Aide for U.S. Representative Sam Farr, with a portfolio including trade, technology and small business issues. Mr. Marczak has worked with the Andean Community General Secretariat and the National Endowment for Democracy.

Clarissa Martinez De Castro Director of Immigration and National Campaigns, National Council of La Raza Clarissa Martinez De Castro, Director of Immigration and National Campaigns for the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), oversees the organization’s work on immigration and efforts to expand opportunities for Latino engagement in civic life and public policy debates. She previously managed NCLR’s state policy advocacy efforts and civic engagement work, and in 2007 served as Manager of the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, a broad network of national, state, and local organizations committed to advancing policy solutions on immigration. Prior to NCLR, she served as Public Policy Coordinator for the Southwest Voter Research Institute, as Assistant Director of the California-Mexico Project at the University of Southern California, as organizer with the Ladies’ Garment Workers Union, and as Union Representative with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE) Local 11. A Salzburg Seminar Fellow, she received her undergraduate degree from Occidental College, and her Master’s degree from Harvard University.

Margie McHugh Co-Director, Migration Policy Institute’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy Margie McHugh is Co-Director of the Migration Policy Institute’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy. The Center is a national hub for government, community, business, and academic leaders seeking to obtain information and skills that will help them respond to the challenges and opportunities that today’s high rates of immigration pose for communities across the United States. The Center’s work concentrates on policy domains that are central to immigrant integration, including: pre-K-16 education; adult English language, literacy and workforce skills; health care access; and state

17

and local government involvement in regulating immigration. Prior to joining MPI, Ms. McHugh served for 15 years as Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition, an umbrella organization for over 150 groups in New York that uses research, policy development, and community mobilization efforts to address immigrant integration and immigration policy concerns. Before that, she served as Deputy Director of New York City’s 1990 Census Project and as the Executive Assistant to New York Mayor Koch’s Chief of Staff.

Ali Modarres Associate Director, Edmund G. “Pat” Brown Institute of Public Affairs, California State University, Los Angeles, and Professor, Department of Geography, California State University, Los Angeles Ali Modarres is the Associate Director of the Edmund G. “Pat” Brown Institute of Public Affairs at California State University, Los Angeles and a Professor at the Department of Geography and Urban Analysis on the same campus. He specializes in urban geography and his primary research and publication interests are community development and planning. He has published in the areas of urban development, transportation planning, environmental equity, social geography, immigration, and race and ethnicity as they relate to the issues of access and the role of public policy in creating disadvantaged communities.

Dowell Myers Professor of Urban Planning and Demography, School of Policy, Planning, and Development, University of Southern California Dowell Myers is Professor of Urban Planning and Demography in the School of Policy, Planning, and Development, at the University of Southern California. He directs the school’s Population Dynamics Research Group and leads the ongoing USC California Demographic Futures research project. His group is completing a major, three-year study of the changing tempo of immigrant integration in America. Last year the Russell Sage Foundation published Immigrants and Boomers: Forging a New Social Contract for the Future of America, a study of the many ways immigrants change over time and in turn contribute to our changing society. This was honored with the Thomas and Znaniecki Award from the American Sociological Association for best book on immigration in 2007. In 2006, Dr. Myers received the Haynes Foundation Award for Research Impact. His Ph.D. is in Urban Planning from MIT and he also studied Demography and Sociology at Harvard University.

Harry P. Pachon President, Tomás Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI), and Professor of Public Policy, School of Planning, Policy, and Development, University of Southern California Dr. Harry P. Pachon joined the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI) in 1993, as President. In 1997, Dr. Pachon was appointed to serve as a member of the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. Additionally, saluting his ongoing work on behalf of Mexicans living in the United States, the Mexican Government presented Dr. Pachon with the Ohtli (humanitarian) Award. Dr. Pachon is a founding Board Member and past Executive Director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund. Dr. Pachon currently serves on the Board of Directors of The John Randolph Haynes Foundation and Southern California Public Radio (KPCC). Among his numerous academic achievements, Dr. Pachon has been the recipient of research grants from the prestigious Social Science Research Council, and the Ford, Carnegie-Mellon, Rockefeller and Kellogg Foundations. Dr. Pachon has authored over twenty articles and journals, and co-authored three books on U.S. Latino politics and political behavior.

18

Manuel Pastor Professor of Geography and American Studies & Ethnicity, University of Southern California, and Director, Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) at USC’s Center for Sustainable Cities Founding director of the Center for Justice, Tolerance, and Community at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Pastor currently leads PERE. Pastor has received fellowships from the Danforth, Guggenheim, and Kellogg foundations and received grants from the Irvine Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, the California Wellness Foundation, and many others. His research on U.S. urban issues has been published in Economic Development Quarterly, Review of Regional Studies, Social Science Quarterly, Journal of Economic Issues, Journal of Urban Affairs, Urban Affairs Review, Urban Geography, and elsewhere. His most recent book, co-authored with Chris Benner and Laura Leete, is Staircases or Treadmills: Labor Market Intermediaries and Economic Opportunity in a Changing Economy (Russell Sage, 2007). Along with Angela Glover Blackwell and Stewart Kwoh, he co-authored Searching for the Uncommon Common Ground: New Dimensions on Race in America (Horton, 2003).

Karthick Ramakrishnan Assistant Professor, University of California, Riverside Karthick Ramakrishnan received his Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University (2002), and was a visiting scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation in 2006. His research interests include political participation, civic voluntarism, and the politics of race, ethnicity, and immigration in the United States. He is a principal investigator on a multi-site research project on immigrant civic engagement. Prior to UCR, Ramakrishnan was a Research Fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), where he authored several peer-reviewed reports on immigrant adaptation, local governance, and civic engagement. His articles have appeared in International Migration Review, Urban Affairs Review, and Social Science Quarterly. He is also the author of Democracy in Immigrant America (Stanford University Press, 2005) and is co-editor of Transforming Politics, Transforming America, a volume on immigrant politics from the University of Virginia Press (2006).

David Rattray Vice President of Education and Workforce Development, and President and Executive Director of UNITE-LA David Rattray oversees the Education and Workforce Development department at the Chamber and UNITE-LA, the School-to-Career Partnership of Los Angeles. Rattray officially joined the Chamber in 2003 after being a strategic partner for several years. Since 1998, he has led UNITE-LA in building business and educational partnerships toward a goal of improving the academic achievement and enthusiasm for learning for all Los Angeles students. Previously Rattray spent more than 20 years in the foodservice distribution industry. Rattray serves on the L.A. City Workforce Investment Board and Youth Council and is Vice Chair of the State Workforce Investment Board’s Lifelong Learning Committee. Rattray earned his M.B.A. from the University of Southern California. When Rattray really wants to shine, he plays his tuba.

Robert K. Ross President and Chief Executive Officer, The California Endowment Robert K. Ross, M.D., is President and Chief Executive Officer for The California Endowment, a health foundation established in 1996 to address the health needs of Californians. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Ross served as Director of the Health and Human Services Agency for the County of San Diego, and Commissioner of Public Health for the City of Philadelphia. Dr. Ross has been actively involved in community and professional activities at both the local and national level. He served as a member of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee, and on the boards of the National Marrow Donor Program, San Diego United Way and Jackie Robinson YMCA. He has received numerous awards and honors

19

including the “Youth Advocacy Humanitarian of the Year” award; the “Outstanding Community Service Award” from the Volunteers of America; the “Leadership Award” from the Hospital Council of San Diego and Imperial Counties; and the National Association of Health Services Executives “Health Administrator of the Year Citation.”

Angelica Salas Director, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) Angelica Salas became CHIRLA’s Director in 1999. She has since helped win in-state tuition for undocumented immigrant students and established day laborer job centers that have served as a model for the rest of the nation. She is a leading spokesperson on federal immigration policy. Under Salas’ leadership, CHIRLA and its partners across the country have built the foundation for the recent upsurge in immigrant rights activism. One of Salas’ greatest accomplishments at CHIRLA has been the transformation of a coalition of social service providers into an organization that empowers immigrants to engage in advocacy on their own behalf. As part of a national coordinating committee, Salas helped convene a coalition of organizations in Southern California which have successfully mobilized millions of immigrants to demand comprehensive immigration reform including legalization with a path to citizenship, family reunification, and the protection of civil and labor rights.

Alexia Salvatierra Executive Director, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice of California, CLUE-CA Rev. Alexia Salvatierra is the Executive Director of CLUE-CA, a statewide interfaith organization of religious leaders who come together to respond to the crisis of working poverty by joining low-wage workers in their struggle for a living wage, health insurance, fair working conditions and a voice in the decisions that affect them.. CLUE-CA understands that economic justice requires respect for human rights, and is one of the coordinating agencies of the national New Sanctuary Movement, in which congregations accompany and support immigrant workers and their families facing deportation. Rev. Salvatierra is an ordained Pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, with over 30 years of experience in interfaith and community ministry, community organizing and legislative advocacy. She has been awarded the Changemaker award from the Liberty Hill Foundation, the Stanton Fellowship from the Durfee Foundation and the Prime Mover award from the Hunt Alternatives Fund.

George Sanchez Professor of History and American Studies and Ethnicity, University of Southern California George Sanchez is the author of Becoming Mexican American: Ethnicity, Culture and Identity in Chicano Los Angeles, 1900-1945 (Oxford University Press, 1993), co-editor of Los Angeles and the Future of Urban Cultures ( Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005), and recently published “’What’s Good for Boyle Heights is Good for the Jews’: Creating Multiracialism on the Eastside During the 1950s,” American Quarterly 56:3 (September 2004). He is Past President of the American Studies Association (2001-2002), and is one of the co-editors of the book series, American Crossroads: New Works in Ethnic Studies, from the University of California Press. He currently serves as Director of the Center for Diversity and Democracy at USC. He is co-editing, with Amy Koritz of Tulane University, Civic Engagement in the Wake of Katrina, to be published by University of Michigan Press in 2008. He works on both historical and contemporary topics of race, gender, ethnicity, labor, and immigration.

Roberto Suro Professor of Journalism, University of Southern California Roberto Suro is a veteran print journalist with extensive experience in foreign, domestic and Washington coverage as a senior staffer for The New York Times and The Washington Post. Prior to joining the School of Journalism faculty in August 2007, he was Director of the Pew Hispanic Center, a research organization in Washington D.C. which he founded in 2001 as a project of the Annenberg School for

20

Communication. At the Center, Suro supervised the production of more than 100 publications that offered non-partisan statistical analysis and public opinion surveys chronicling the rapid growth of the Latino population and its implications for the nation as a whole. Suro has written for publications such as the Chicago Sun Times, TIME magazine, and the New York Times. After a year as an Alicia Patterson Fellow, Suro was hired at The Washington Post as a staff writer on the national desk, eventually covering a variety of beats including the Justice Department and the Pentagon and serving as Deputy National Editor.

Abel Valenzuela Professor of Urban Planning and Chicano Studies, University of California, Los Angeles, and Director, UCLA’s Center for the Study of Urban Poverty Professor Valenzuela is the Nation’s expert on Day Laborers and has published numerous articles and technical reports on the subject. He has published numerous articles on immigrant settlement, labor market outcomes, urban poverty and inequality, including co-editing (with Lawrence Bobo, Melvin Oliver, and Jim Johnson) Prismatic Metropolis: Inequality in Los Angeles published by the Russell Sage Foundation in 2000, Immigration and Crime: Race, Ethnicity, and Violence (with Ramiro Martinez Jr.). He has also published in American Behavioral Scientist, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Annual Review of Sociology, New England Journal of Public Policy, Working USA: a Journal of Labor and Society, International Journal of Comparative Sociology, and Regional Studies. He is currently under contract with the Russell Sage Foundation to publish his recent work on the social and labor market processes of day laborers.

Arturo Vargas Executive Director, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) and the NALEO Educational Fund Arturo Vargas is the Executive Director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), a national membership organization, and the NALEO Educational Fund, a national nonprofit organization that strengthens American democracy by promoting the full participation of Latinos in our civic life. Prior to joining NALEO, Mr. Vargas was the Vice President for Community Education and Public Policy of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF). His prior positions at MALDEF included Director of Outreach and Policy, and National Director of MALDEF’s 1990 Census Program. Before joining MALDEF, Mr. Vargas was the Senior Education Policy Analyst at the National Council of La Raza. He serves on the Boards of Zero Divide, Council on Foundations, Independent Sector, Alliance for a Better Community, and United Way of Greater Los Angeles. Arturo Vargas has received awards from Hispanic Magazine, the National Federation of Hispanic Owned Newspapers, the National Association for Bilingual Education, City University of New York, Univision, and the National School Board Association’s Hispanic Caucus.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio R. Villaraigosa is the 41st mayor of Los Angeles. Villaraigosa is known for his exceptional skill at building broad bi-partisan coalitions and is considered one of the leading progressive voices in the country. His mayoral platform emphasizes finding solutions to the major issues facing Los Angeles including education, transportation, public safety, economic development and ethics. Mayor Villaraigosa was born on January 23, 1953, in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles, he is the old-est of four children raised by a single mother, Natalia Delgado. Villaraigosa graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School and attended UCLA, where he received a B.A. degree in history. In 2003, he won the 14th District Los Angeles City Council Seat. During his tenure on the City Council, he championed many of the issues he is addressing today as Mayor and is widely credited with resolving the MTA transit strike, creating the largest passive park on the Eastside and Los Angeles, and protecting funding for the Arts.

21

Bill Watanabe Founding Executive Director, Little Tokyo Service Center Community Development Corporation (LTSC CDC) Bill Watanabe is the founding Executive Director of the Little Tokyo Service Center Community Development Corporation (LTSC CDC) for the past 26 years, guiding its growth, in conjunction with the Board of Directors, from a one-person staff to a multi-faceted social services and community development program with 140 paid staff, many of whom are bilingual in any of eight Asian Pacific languages and Spanish. Mr. Watanabe received his Masters in Social Welfare from UCLA, with a major focus on Community Organizing. He has founded or co-founded several other key service organizations such as the Asian Pacific Community Fund in Los Angeles, the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, the Asian Pacific Counseling and Treatment Center, and the Asian Pacific Health Care Venture.

Janelle Wong Associate Professor of Political Science and American Studies, University of Southern California Professor Wong is the author of “Democracy’s Promise: Immigrants and American Civic Institutions” (2006, University of Michigan Press). She has published articles on race, ethnicity and politics in Political Behavior, American Politics Review, Social Science Quarterly, P.S.: Political Science and Politics, and the American Journal of Sociology. As part of the Pilot National Asian American Political Study (PNAAPS) research team, she co-authored “The Politics of Asian Americans: Diversity and Community,” (Routledge 2004) an analysis of the first multi-city, multi-lingual, multi-ethnic survey of Asian Americans’ political attitudes and behavior. She teaches courses on race and politics and Asian American politics and has studied the demographics of voting participation, according to gender and race. Her research interests include race, ethnicity and politics; political participation, political mobilization and public opinion research.

Kent Wong Director, Center for Labor Research and Education, University of California, Los Angeles, and Professor of Labor Studies and Asian American Studies, UCLA Kent Wong is Director of the Center for Labor Research and Education at UCLA, where he teaches Labor Studies and Asian American Studies. The UCLA Labor Center has worked with immigrant workers and on immigration issues for many years, and is currently publishing a new book on undocumented students. Mr. Wong previously worked as Staff Attorney for the Service Employees International Union in Los Angeles, and for the Asian Pacific American Legal Center. He served as founding President of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, and President of the University and College Labor Education Association and the United Association for Labor Education.

22

Notes

23

24

Board Room

Club Room

Alumni Room

Cardinal Room Gold Room

Figueroa Room

Embassy Room

Vineyard Dining Room

ABOUT the Organizers The Population Dynamics Research Group (PDRG) was founded in 1999 as a research unit in the School of Policy, Planning, and Development for the conduct of contract and grant-funded research headed by Dowell Myers. PDRG creates and assembles data for use in demographic analysis of a wide range of policy and planning issues. Analysis topics include demographic issues of race and immigration, as well as the problems of housing and urban growth, transportation, workforce, education, and health. PDRG is a specialized and professional research enterprise with full-time professional staff and highly trained graduate students working on site. The research group is an active member of the state data center network operated by the U.S. Census Bureau, and it is also designated a State Data Center Affiliate Agency through the California Department of Finance.PDRG places major emphasis on public communication of research findings in order to elevate public understanding of policy issues from a demographic perspective; in particular on demographic change in California and its implications. This is expressed through the public reporting of findings and policy interpretations from Census analyses, housing studies, and growth forecasts.

The Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) is a new research unit and part of the Center for Sustainable Cities at USC headed by Professor Manuel Pastor. PERE conducts research and facilitates discussions on issues of environmental justice, regional inclusion and immigrant integration. Initial support for our research has been provided by the California Community Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Annenberg Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, the Energy Foundation, the California Air Resources Board, and the California Endowment.PERE’s work is rooted in the new three R’s: rigor, relevance and reach. We conduct high-quality research in our focus areas that is relevant to public policy concerns and that reaches to those directly affected communities that most need to be engaged in the discussion. In general, we seek and support direct collaborations with community-based organizations in research and other activities, trying to forge a new model of how university and community can work together for the common good.

For additional information about PDRG please see:

http://www.usc.edu/schools/sppd/research/popdynamics/ http://www.usc.edu/schools/sppd/futures/

For additional information please contact:

Jackie Agnello, Center Administrator, 213 821 1325, jagnello@usc.edu

USC Program for Environmental & Regional Equity