In this episode, Director of Operations & Strategies for Act Now for Mental Health Joy Chen talks with students from the UC Riverside School of Public Policy about Mental Health Awareness and Challenges.  

About Joy Chen:

Joy, a UCR and School of Public Policy Alum, has extensive experience in both local and state government settings. Joy graduated from Yale with a Master's in Public Health and currently works as the Director of Operations & Strategies for the Act Now for Mental Health non-profit. Joy is also a Policy Director for Healthsperian LLC.

Learn more about Joy Chen via https://www.linkedin.com/in/joy-chen-mph-99678a124/

Podcast Highlights: 

“Mental Health and behavioral health have been issues long before the pandemic, if anything, the pandemic just revealed and exacerbated this issue.”

-       Joy Chen on the topic of mental health policymaking.

“We feel like we're so small and can't address anything that happens in the world, but what we do have control over is volunteering in our communities.”

-       Joy Chen on the importance of community investment.

“One of the big reasons anxiety and depression have been destigmatized has been because of social media. It has made others feel less alone...I think hearing other people talk about what they are going through is so helpful in helping us process our emotions and understand that it isn't just us."

-      Joy Chen on the topic of social media's role in awareness.

Guest:

Joy Chen (Director of Operations & Strategies)

Interviewers:

Kevin Karami (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Chief Ambassador)

Giovanna Arena (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Ambassador) 

This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/ Subscribe to this podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast. 

In this episode, Attorney Thy Bui talks with a student from the UC Riverside School of Public Policy about the challenges, intricacies, and tips on the legal profession.

About Thy Bui: 

Thy represents employers in single-plaintiff and multi-plaintiff lawsuits in state and federal court.  She regularly defends employers in lawsuits alleging causes of action for discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wage and hour violations, and other statutory and common-law claims arising from the employment relationship.  In addition to her litigation practice, Thy also performs workplace investigations and provides day-to-day counseling advice to employers.

Learn more about Thy Bui via https://www.constangy.com/people-Thy-Bui

Podcast Highlights:

“At some point, it becomes a sales job...the people that pay you are the clients... [and people] don't ask themselves am I good at sales, how are my soft skills, do people relate to me, can I convince somebody that I'm fun to work with? These are not things that people think about.”

-       Thy Bui on the importance of soft skills and building connections. 

“While there may be more information or people to consult, in the end, you have to make that decision and you have to be okay with no matter what the consequences are because you can't control the future."

-      Thy Bui on the topic of decisiveness in the legal profession. 

“Make it fun. A lifetime of work is a long time! If you're just in it for the money and you're not having fun you're going to burn out fast, especially for a profession as demanding as the legal profession.”

-       Thy Bui's advice for anyone interested in pursuing a legal profession. 

Guest:

Thy Bui (Attorney)

Interviewer:

Kevin Karami (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Chief Ambassador)

Music by:

C Codaine

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Minimal_1625

Commercial Link:

https://spp.ucr.edu/mpp

This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/

Subscribe to this podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast.

In this episode, Water Consulting Expert Les Chau talk with a student from the UC Riverside School of Public Policy about California's Water Challenges.

About Les Chau:

Mr. Chau specializes in One Water consulting, climate adaptation planning, water resource studies, water quality compliance, and water infrastructure asset management. His experience includes watershed analysis with a focus on overall environmental impacts and climate change effects on water supplies and infrastructure.

Learn more about Les Chau via https://www.linkedin.com/in/leschau/

Podcast Highlights:

“We need to really have a futurist strategy on how to grow the California economy...That I think requires us repurposing some of our existing commerce which is agriculture.”

-      Les Chau on the concept of repurposing agricultural land. 

“Be a champion of your own community, be a champion of safe drinking water, be a champion to represent underrepresented communities.”

-       Les Chau on the role everyone can play in addressing the water crisis.

“It's not engineering and science in the forefront; it's really our political will.”

-       Les Chau on the role politics plays in water policy. 

Guest:

Les Chau (Water Consulting Expert)

Interviewers:

Kevin Karami (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Chief Ambassador)

Music by:

C Codaine

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Minimal_1625

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Phase

Commercial Link:

https://spp.ucr.edu/mpp

This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/

Subscribe to this podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast.

In this episode, Non-Profit Worker and School of Public Policy Alum Andrea Rayas talks with students from the UC Riverside School of Public Policy about Community Work with Second-Hand Smoke in Multifamily Housing Units. 

Podcast Highlights: 

“Research has shown that African American and Latinx communities are most affected by it, especially children.” 

-Andrea on the topic of second-hand smoke and the communities most impacted by it. 

“We work with a  community who are constantly working, who are not politically involved at all...we think it's important to also provide training or capacity building for them...encouraging them to make public comments, empowering them to attend meetings...” 

-Andrea on the challenges of working with community members and how to empower them. 

“The way they can get involved is by addressing it to their other peers, neighbors, landlords, property management, attending meetings [and expressing their concerns]” 

-Andrea on the topic of student involvement in addressing second-hand smoke.

Guest: 

Andrea Rayas (Non-Profit Worker) 

Interviewers: 

Dinara Godage (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Ambassador) 

Andrew Shannon (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Ambassador) 

Music by: C Codaine 

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Minimal_1625

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Phase 

Commercial Link: https://spp.ucr.edu/mpp 

This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/ Subscribe to this podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast.

In this episode, Dean of the University of California, Riverside School of Public Policy Mark Long talks with a student about Affirmative Action Policies in College Admissions.

About Mark Long:

Mark C. Long began his role as Dean of the School of Public Policy at UC Riverside in January 2023, following the successful tenure of Anil Deolalikar, who served as founding Dean of SPP. From 2004-2022, Long was a Professor of Public Policy and Governance and Adjunct Professor of Economics at the University of Washington. He served as the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance's Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs (2018-19) and Associate Dean for Research (2016-18). Long served on the faculty of George Washington University as an assistant professor of economics and public policy and administration from 2002-04.

Learn more about Mark Long via https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/marklong

Podcast Highlights:

“If your goal is representation by race, but you use other indicators like income or wealth, you need to put as much as four times as much weight on those other factors than you would if you just put weight directly on race. From an efficiency perspective, if what you're interested in is generating racial representation, it's inefficient to put weight on socioeconomic status.”

-      Mark Long on the topic of different indicators for racial representation in college admissions. 

“Yes, you can predict race, but you can't predict race, particularly with the date that universities have on hand.”

-      Mark Long on the topic of using measures to predict race to increase racial representation on college campuses. 

“Those gaps are present as of kindergarten, so clearly, things are going on in the homes and communities of these students before they even hit high school.”

-       Mark Long on the challenges minority students face from an early age. 

Guest:

Mark Long (Dean of the School of Public Policy)

Interviewer:

Kevin Karami (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Chief Ambassador)

Music by:

C Codaine

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Minimal_1625

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Phase

Commercial Link:

https://spp.ucr.edu/mpp

Register for the event here: estolano-jan24.eventbrite.com

Click here to learn more about Dean Long's research on this issue.

This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/

Subscribe to this podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast.

In this episode, Founding Dean of the University of California, Riverside School of Public Policy, Anil Deolalikar talks with students about the most pressing challenges the world faces today.

About Anil Deolalikar:

Anil Deolalikar has been the founding dean of the School of Public Policy since February 2013 and a professor of economics at UC Riverside since 2003. Deolalikar is a development economist who has published four books and 75 articles on the economics of child nutrition, health, education, poverty, and social protection in developing countries. In addition to his research, Deolalikar has extensive public policy experience.

Learn more about Anil Deolalikar via https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/anild

Podcast Highlights:

“In some ways, you can almost think about California as a giant experiment to show what can be done by policy to control emissions.”

-       Anil Deolalikar on the topic of climate change and California's efforts to address it. 

“If you look at the average pay of a CEO in a company relative to the average production worker...that ratio used to be the average CEO was paid 25 times more...today it is 300 times. That tells you how unequal things have become.”

-       Anil Deolalikar on the rise of inequality.

“It may mark the end of this four-decade period of globalization... We could have two sets of supranational organizations in the world-one allied with the Chinese and one allied with the United States.”

-       Anil Deolalikar on the economic conflict between China and the United States. 

Guest:

Anil Deolalikar (Founding Dean, UCR School of Public Policy)

Interviewers:

Kevin Karami (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Chief Ambassador)

Catherine Mah (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Ambassador)

Zeno Marganian (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Ambassador)

Dinara Godage (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Ambassador)

Andrew Shannon (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Ambassador)

Music by:

C Codaine

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Minimal_1625

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Phase

Commercial Links:

https://spp.ucr.edu/mpp

This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/

Subscribe to this podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast.

In this episode, Water Law Partner Wesley Miliband talks with students from the UC Riverside School of Public Policy about the policy issues and potential solutions to California's water challenges.

About Wesley Miliband:

"Wesley Miliband is an environmental lawyer focused on water resources. He focuses on securing and protecting water rights and water supplies, including assistance with water transfers as well as the infrastructure necessary to treat, store and deliver water. His practice lends itself to related environmental issues involving water quality impacts to surface water and groundwater supplies, fisheries and riparian habitats, regulatory permitting, and environmental compliance with federal and state requirements, including the California Environmental Quality Act."

Learn more about Wesley Miliband via https://www.aalrr.com/attorneys-Wesley_A_Miliband#Overview

Podcast Highlights:

“What that means is California's driest six years, over an approximately 128 years that we as a state have been recording precipitation, just happened in the last ten years alone.”

-       Wesley Miliband on the dire situation regarding California's droughts and water supply.

“I would say that our population growth is a massive contributor... We are a growth-intense state, and the existing infrastructure, on top of that, has aged. So I think those are two huge contributors to why existing logistical challenges become even more challenging”

-       Wesley Miliband on the topic of logistical challenges California faces.

“I think a part of it is trust-building-in my mind, it will never go away however much we can advance technology...trust is still a fundamental necessity to getting things done.”

-       Wesley Miliband on the topic of infrastructure and implementing new projects and ideas.

Guest:

Wesley Miliband (Water Law Partner)

Interviewers:

Kevin Karami (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Chief Ambassador)

Catherine Mah (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Ambassador)

Music by:

C Codaine

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Minimal_1625

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Phase

Commercial Links:

https://spp.ucr.edu/mpp

This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/

Subscribe to this podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast.

In this episode, Former District Attorney of San Bernardino County Michael Ramos talks with students from the UC Riverside School of Public Policy about the Supreme Court going into the upcoming elections.

About Michael Ramos:

Michael A. Ramos was elected as San Bernardino County’s District Attorney in 2003 and served in the position until 2019. He currently serves as one of the External Relations Directors for the Robert Presley Center of Crime and Justice Studies at the UCR School of Public Policy.

Learn more about Michael Ramos via https://presleycenter.ucr.edu/about/people#external_relations_directors

Podcast Highlights:

“It will be interesting to me to see if that same energy after the decision on Roe v. Wade comes out in the ballot box. If it does, then that tells you that the decision by the United States Supreme Court lit a fire under the public.”

-       Michael Ramos on the topic of Roe v. Wade and the response by the American public.

“My concern, and I think the public's concern, is judicial activism-the judges crossing the line to the political world, the legislative world.”

-       Michael Ramos on the topic of justices potentially crossing the line and involving politics in their decisions. 

“You may think your vote doesn't count, but it does. Every vote from a local school board race to the United States president is key to our society continuing to be what we are in the world.”

-       Michael Ramos on the importance of voting. 

Guest:

Michael Ramos (External Relations Director for the Center of Crime and Justice Studies)

Interviewers:

Kevin Karami (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Chief Ambassador)

Jeanine Nassar (Associate Students of UCR Vice President of Internal Affairs)

Music by:

C Codaine

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Minimal_1625

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Phase

Commercial Links:

https://spp.ucr.edu/mpp

This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/

Subscribe to this podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast.

In this episode, the Director of Legislation and Community Affairs for Planned Parenthood Action Fund of the Pacific Southwest, Karen Borja, talks with students from the UC Riverside School of Public Policy about reproductive rights in 2022.

About Karen Borja:

Karen Borja is the Director of Legislation and Community Affairs for Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest. Ms. Borja is a dedicated community organizer and health advocate. 

Learn more about Karen Borja via https://www.linkedin.com/in/kborja01/

Podcast Highlights:

“In California, abortion is still safe, legal, and protected, that all patients regardless of where they're traveling from will be able to access at Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest.”

-       Karen Borja's statement on abortion care in California. 

“It is essential that our state continue to have the strongest laws in the country so that we could continue to be a beacon of hope for those that need access to essential healthcare.”

-       Karen Borja on the topic of California's Proposition 1 and the importance of the upcoming Midterm Elections.

“We are with you. We believe in care no matter what.”

-       Karen Borja on Planned Parenthood's stance on abortion rights.

Guest:

Karen Borja (Director of Legislation and Community Affairs for Planned Parenthood Action Fund of the Pacific Southwest)

Interviewers:

Kevin Karami (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Chief Ambassador)

Dinara Godage (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Ambassador)

Music by:

C Codaine

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Minimal_1625

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Phase

Commercial Link:

https://spp.ucr.edu/mpp

This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/

Subscribe to this podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast.

In this episode, the Host of the Urban Planning is Not Boring Podcast, Natalie Ikhrata talks with students from the UC Riverside School of Public Policy about Urban Planning and its challenges.

About Natalie Ikhrata:

Natalie is pursuing her Master's in Urban Planning, Housing, and Transportation at the University of Southern California. She is a transportation planner and co-host of her podcast, Urban Planning is Not Boring. 

Learn more about Natalie Ikhrata via https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-ikhrata-82a192195/

Podcast Highlights:

“Every single moment is planned for you. It's kind of funny to think about but it's so true.”

-      Natalie Ikhrata on the prevalence of urban planning in our daily lives

“We really do need to acknowledge that public participation and partnership is extremely important.”

-      Natalie Ikhrata on the topic of compromise in real estate development. 

“We've had past planning practices, but a permanency of infrastructure has allowed people to still stay in the same residences that maybe haven't been updated, renovated, or redeveloped, and it's causing significant issues.”

-       Natalie Ikhrata on the topic of historical practices and policies and how they affect us today.

Guest:

Natalie Ikhrata (Podcast Host)

Interviewers:

Kevin Karami (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Chief Ambassador)

Catherine Mah (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Ambassador)

Urban Planning is Not Boring: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/urban-planning-is-not-boring/id1631872994

Music by:

C Codaine

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Minimal_1625

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Phase

Commercial Links:

https://spp.ucr.edu/mpp

This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/

Subscribe to this podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast.