Policymakers, Researchers and Advocates Convene to Discuss Civil Rights Issues and Trends Shaping California for the Next 25 Years
For release: January 5, 2025
Policymakers, Researchers and Advocates Convene to Discuss
Civil Rights Issues and Trends Shaping California for the Next 25 Years
Los Angeles, CA – The UCLA Civil Rights Project convened a summit of advocates, researchers and policymakers in Sacramento, CA, on December 5, 2024, to discuss the trends that are projected to shape civil rights in California for the next 25 years. The need to examine, collaborate and bring together researchers, policymakers and thought leaders, around the future of racial justice and civil rights for all Americans, was timely and critically important, especially as the country continues to grapple with the outcomes of the 2024 Presidential Election and prepares for the new administration’s actions.
The summit, entitled “A Civil Rights Agenda for California’s Next Quarter Century,” featured presentations of new data regarding California’s changing demographics, social and geographic mobility, and persistent gaps in the Central and Imperial Valleys. Big policy ideas debuted – including an overhaul of the 1960 California Master Plan, universal access to bilingual education, a call for civil rights laws California students need – and generated discussion on how to advance civil rights and equity in California.
These, and other recently-published research, comprise a collection that harnesses the skills of innovative thinkers from various disciplines, considers how California and the nation are transforming, and forecasts what the implications are for the future of racial justice. The summit also incorporated conversation about California’s role during an anti-civil rights era at the federal level, and ways the state can be a beacon for the nation.
The work presented was commissioned and published by the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles as part of an ongoing research series, A Civil Rights Agenda for the Next Quarter Century, in commemoration of the Project’s 25th anniversary. Summaries of the research, presenters’ bios and the convening program can be found here.
Presenters included:
Catalina Amuedo – UC Merced, Economics and Business Management
Raeven Chandler – University of Wisconsin, Center for Demography and Ecology
Marcela G. Cuéllar – UC Davis, School of Education
Linda Darling-Hammond – Learning Policy Institute
Patricia Gándara – UCLA Civil Rights Project
Su Jin Jez – California Competes: Higher Education for a Strong Economy
Michal Kurlaender – UC Davis, School of Education
Kai Mathews – UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools
David Mickey-Pabello – UC Riverside, Inland Empire Labor and Community Cente,
Kfir Mordechay – Pepperdine University School of Education and Psychology
Gary Orfield – UCLA Civil Rights Project
Alexis Patterson Williams – UC Davis, School of Education
Ryan Pfleger – UCLA Civil Rights Project
Mark Rosenbaum – Public Counsel
Thomas A. Saenz – Mexican American Legal and Educational Fund (MALDEF)
Ilana Umansky – University of Oregon, College of Education Policy and Leadership
We look forward to more convenings, like this one, that bring together stakeholders, at all levels across California, so we can work together to advance and safeguard racial justice and civil rights.
For more information about the convening and research presented, contact crp@ucla.edu.
About the UCLA Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles:
The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles is co-directed by UCLA Research Professors Gary Orfield and Patricia Gándara. Founded in 1996 at Harvard University, CRP’s mission is to create a new generation of research in social science and law on the critical issues of civil rights and equal opportunity for racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. CRP is a trusted source of segregation statistics, has commissioned more than 400 studies, published more than 25 books and issued numerous reports monitoring the success of American schools in equalizing opportunity. The U.S. Supreme Court, in its 2003 Grutter v. Bollinger decision upholding affirmative action, and in Justice Breyer’s dissent (joined by three other Justices) to its 2007 Parents Involved decision, cited the Civil Rights Project’s research. In June 2023 Justice Sotomayor cited CRP’s research in her dissent to the court’s decision banning affirmative action in SFFA v Harvard College.
The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles is grateful for the support of the University of California Office of the President, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
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