CSRC Newsletter - Winter 2026

 

Strengthening networks on and off campus remains a priority for the CSRC at a time when families, communities, institutions, and our natural environment face ongoing instability and profound challenges. A central part of our work has involved fostering deeper relationships among faculty while also furthering partnerships with campus leadership. In January, we were pleased to welcome Chancellor Julio Frenk to our Faculty Advisory Committee winter quarter reception, where he spoke about the excellence and relevance of the work we do. I am proud of our CSRC faculty, who embody these values through their research and scholarship and through their sustained commitment to Latina/o/x as well as other communities that continue to struggle for fair access to UCLA and other elite institutions of higher education.

 

Our efforts to build meaningful dialogue across campus have also included interacting with our STEM community through the Cafecito con STEM series, led by the CSRC STEM director, Osvaldo Gutierrez. These conversations with deans, faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and UCLA staff create important channels of communication and collaboration that will help strengthen our collective capacity as we confront the challenges ahead.

 

We know that the struggle for justice is ongoing and that we must continue to learn from history.  As noted in a recent message, this includes recognizing that the pursuit of justice must include the rights of minors, women, and those who have been victimized because of their gender identity and sexuality. It also entails learning from the complexity of social movements, legal advocacy, and other efforts that advance the quality of life for those most often left behind. For this reason, I am especially honored that the CSRC Library recently acquired the papers of Antonia Hernández, former president and general counsel of MALDEF and former president and CEO of the California Community Foundation. A recipient of the UCLA Medal, Hernandez’s advocacy offers invaluable insights spanning reproductive justice, civil rights, education equity, immigrant rights, and voting rights, while her leadership in philanthropy and civic institutions has enriched public life, advanced social justice, and promoted the arts. With support from the Latina Futures 2050 Lab and the Cargill Foundation, CSRC Library staff, working in collaboration with UCLA Library staff, are processing and digitizing this remarkable collection so that scholars and future generations can engage with the breadth and depth of her legacy. Hernández’s tireless work has shaped the course of history in many ways, and I am confident her fearless, strategic, and dedicated leadership will inspire others—just as it inspired me decades ago when I first met her as a graduating high school student in the 1990s.

 

 

Preserving and sharing knowledge has never been more important. On March 5, we celebrated the new book by CSRC Associate Director Floridalma Boj Lopez, Indigenous Archives: The Maya Diaspora and Mobile Cultural Production. Among the topics, Boj Lopez, an assistant professor of Chicana/o and Central American studies, reflected on the close relationships she built with local Maya residents while conducting her research. In addition, through support from the Latina Futures 2050 Lab, the CSRC contributed to the annual Hispanas Organized for Political Equality’s (HOPE) Latina History Day conference on March 6 to build upon our efforts to cultivate leadership across generations. Our panel of scholars and practitioners highlighted how Latinas often carry out the vital but frequently unrecognized labor of caring for families, uplifting communities, and serving in leadership roles in workplaces where they may be among the few Latina voices. The discussion offered practical strategies for sustaining well-being while navigating the demands of work, caregiving, and civic leadership.

 

 

On a personal note, I am pleased to share that my book, Learning to Lead: Youth Organizing in Immigrant Communities (Russell Sage Foundation) is now available in print and online. The book examines how nonprofit youth organizing groups in California and across the country strengthen young people’s ability to lead grassroots campaigns and mobilize voters. It also outlines strategies that support adolescents’ healthy development, civic learning, and collective action in low-income communities. This research helped lay the foundation for the California Freedom Summer Participatory Action Research Project, which is training more than 150 students across the UC system and select community colleges in data collection and strategies for amplifying the voices of young residents alongside nearly fifty nonpartisan community organizations across California. In this same spirit of collaboration, the CSRC has partnered with the UCLA Center for the Study of International Migration, NDLON, and UCLA students to host in our library the art exhibition ICE Out: Arte en Resistencia!, which highlights community responses to immigration enforcement.

 

 

The 2026 California Freedom Summer (CFS) Participatory Action Research Project launched Winter Quarter with 150 University of California, community college, and high school students from across the state. In partnership with Work Experience Education (WEE) programs at various community college campuses, CFS is training students with research and civic skills to promote non-partisan voter education efforts among young voters in their communities. Students from various UC campuses, in addition to UCLA, are among those participating in this project. This spring, CFS students will launch non-partisan voter engagement and education efforts, including student conferences, to teach and involve young voters in their neighborhoods. They will also host listening sessions to better understand the issues affecting young people. 

 

In Fall 2025, the CSRC Library was awarded a Haynes Foundation Archival Grant for the project “Shedding Light on Unsung Heroes: A History of Latina Advocacy in Los Angeles.” The award will fund the preservation and processing of two policy-focused collections: the Susan Alva Papers and the Elena I. Popp Papers. Both Alva and Popp were thorough record-keepers. Their collections shed light on their influence on public policy changes in regard to immigration, labor, and housing rights in the Los Angeles region. 

 

It is with mixed emotions that we say farewell to our Digital Projects Librarian, Yesenia Roman Lopez. Yesenia joined the staff in December 2023 as part of the Latina Futures 2050 Lab; her role was to oversee the building of a digital archival infrastructure that will make the Library's women's and LGBTQ+ collections widely accessible to the public. Her role effectively required her to serve as a digital archivist, data curator, digitization technician, digital asset manager, cataloger, and IT support, as well as a reference librarian, archivist, teacher, and supervisor. We thank her for all of her contributions, and for becoming a dear colleague, mentor, and friend. She will be sorely missed, but we are excited for her next adventure. ¡Suerte, compañera!