Announcement of 2008 Rosenfield Award Recipients
The Center for Community Partnerships is pleased to announce the fifth annual Ann C. Rosenfield Distinguished Community Partnership Prize. The program's primary goal is to publicly acknowledge outstanding examples of engaged scholarship in which UCLA faculty or staff have collaborated with Los Angeles non-profit organizations to address issues of community concern. Each award will be presented jointly to the principal UCLA participant and the community partner, thereby publicly recognizing and uniting the two "halves" of the UCLA in LA partnership.
Selected partnerships will receive an award of $25,000 of which $12,500 is received by the UCLA partner and $12,500 is given to the community partner. The awards will be presented at a ceremony during the Spring Quarter 2008. Made possible by the Ann C. Rosenfield Fund at the UCLA Foundation under the direction of David A. Leveton, this award can be used for any purpose by the recipients. All awards are subject to University of California policies as well as federal and state taxation.
Rosenfield Award Recipients
Joan Rosenbaum Asarnow
Professor, UCLA Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
Community Partner: Hathaway-Sycamore Child and Family Services
Project Summary:
Through training leaders on how to intervene with suicidal youth, and in
turn teaching these leaders to train and supervise 75 other treatment providers,
this collaborative project has provided a unique opportunity to bridge
the gap between research and practice, and improve quality of care and
outcomes for youth and families in Los Angeles County. Although the work
has centered on the Hathaway-Sycamore partnership with UCLA, Professor
Asarnow and her team has also engaged multiple community partners through
a community forum, dissemination newsletter and presentations at local
and notional meetings. Also, UCLA students have been involved throughout
the project and have had opportunities to participate in partnership activities,
research, trainings and community forums, as well as to present results
of the project at professional meetings.
Yoram Cohen
Professor, UCLA Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Community Partner: Committee to Bridge the Gap
Project Summary:
Professor Cohen and his study team inform the public of the implications
of scientific findings to the understanding of the environmental
and health impact of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory. In collaboration
with the Committee to Bridge the Gap, Professor Cohen has been able
to communicate his research findings to the community. Their scientific
studies, community involvement, and work with local officials and
California State representatives have had a major impact on the political
debate regarding the future of the toxic site. Providing scientific
evidence of the site’s toxicity, Professor Cohen’s expertise in environmental
and chemical science enabled the longtime concerns of the public
to be heard by state officials. His research has culminated in the
presentation of his findings to numerous public meetings and at an
April 5, 2007 briefing for public officials at the invitation of
State Senator Sheila Kuehl.
Marjorie Kagawa-Singer
Professor, UCLA Public Health, Community Health Sciences
Community Partner: Families in Good Health/St. Mary’s
Project Summary:
The work of Professor Kagawa-Singer, in collaboration with Families in Good
Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center involves research and advocacy for early
cancer screening among underrepresented Asian communities. Supported by
the California Breast Cancer Research Program, Professor Kagawa-Singer’s
research has played a key role in the improvement of mammography screening
rates among Hmong women, a group that has had one of the lowest rates of
all ethnic groups. Her partnership with Families in Good Health has culminated
in the promotion of breast and cervical cancer screenings among seven monolingual
Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander populations in Los Angeles, Orange,
San Francisco, and Alameda counties.
Jose Luis Valenzuela
Professor, UCLA School of Film, Theater & Television
Community Partner: Latino Theater Company at THE NEW LATC
Project Summary:
As Artistic Director of the Latino Theater Company at THE NEW LATC,
Jose Luis Valenzuela has been responsible for developing its artistic
vision and organizational mission, translating THE NEW LATC ideals
into artistic programming and overseeing its implementation. THE
NEW LATC builds and develops smaller ethnically-specific theater
companies into companies that produce professional Equity theater;
produce and present theater that represents the diversity of Los
Angeles; and create a Summer Conservatory for youth that nurtures
and develops aspiring theater artists to successfully compete for
entrance into theater programs in major universities.
Gail Wyatt
Professor, UCLA Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
Community Partner: To Help Everyone Clinic, Inc.
Project Summary:
T.H.E. Clinic is one of the few non-profit health care clinics in Southwest
Los Angeles, serving part of a dense urban area of over one million people,
almost one-third of whom are uninsured. Since then, T.H.E. Clinic has garnered
longtime support from all levels of government as well as such major public
policy institutions as the University of California, Los Angeles, California
Foundation, United Way, Drew University, and the California Family Health
Council, to name only a few. The collaboration between T.H.E. Clinic and
Professor Wyatt began over 30 years ago while she was collecting her dissertation
research, assessing stress among African American mothers and children.
Her contribution to the development of standards of care at T.H.E. Clinic
began while the clinic was in its developmental stage. Recently, Professor
Wyatt’s partnership with T.H.E. Clinic has been characterized by a mutually
beneficial relationship of scholarship and community work, in which T.H.E.
Clinic has been able to implement the vital research provided through Wyatt’s
leadership in the UCLA Sexual Health Program, the UCLA AIDS Institute,
and the Women’s Health Initiative.
Community Leader Award
This award honors an individual who has demonstrated exceptional leadership and continuous commitment to advancing the quality of life for communities in Los Angeles. This year's recipient is Elise Buik, President/CEO, Greater United Way Los Angeles.
Special Recognition Award
The Ann C. Rosenfield Fund also made a special award to recognize and support Adjunct Professor David Gjertson and the Los Angeles Aquatic Search and Rescue Unit, Inc. a non-profit organization which works in conjunction with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Emergency Services Detail of the Special Enforcement Bureau.
