Karen Bass, Mayor of Los Angeles, to Deliver UCLA Anderson 2023 Commencement Address

LOS ANGELES, May 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- UCLA Anderson School of Management announced that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass will address the 2023 graduating classes of MBA, Fully Employed MBA, Executive MBA and Ph.D. students. The graduation ceremony will take place on June 16 at 4:00 p.m. in UCLA's Wilson Plaza. The ceremony will also be livestreamed.

Karen Bass is the 43rd Mayor of Los Angeles and the first woman and second African American to be elected as the city's chief executive. With an agenda described as bringing urgency, accountability and a new direction to Los Angeles, she began her term in December 2022 with a focus on immediately addressing the city's housing crisis and increasing safety and opportunity throughout Los Angeles.

Mayor Bass started her career in public service as a health care provider, serving as a nurse and physician assistant before founding the Community Coalition to organize the predominantly Black and Latino residents of South L.A. against substance abuse, poverty and crime. She pioneered strategies to address the root causes behind the challenges faced by underserved neighborhoods.

She went on to represent Los Angeles in the State Assembly and was elected by her peers to serve as Speaker, making her the first African American woman in U.S. history to lead a state legislative body. Her time in leadership intersected with the recession of 2008–09, and in 2010 she was honored with the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for reaching across party lines and making tough decisions that helped keep California from bankruptcy while protecting vital services. While representing Los Angeles and Culver City in Congress, Mayor Bass helped protect small businesses during the pandemic, created policy to use federal infrastructure funding to increase local jobs and led the passage of what the Los Angeles Times called "the most significant child welfare policy reform in decades."

"We are honored to have Mayor Karen Bass as our 2023 commencement speaker," said UCLA Anderson Dean Tony Bernardo. "As a private citizen and as a public servant, she epitomizes the notion of transformative leadership, with a focus on service, innovation, and inclusivity. Mayor Bass is a living example of the positive impact an individual may have on their community, the type of impact our graduates aspire to themselves."

About UCLA Anderson School of Management
UCLA Anderson School of Management is among the leading business schools in the world, with faculty members globally renowned for their teaching excellence and research in advancing management thinking. Located in Los Angeles, gateway to the growing economies of Latin America and Asia and a city that exemplifies innovation in a diverse range of endeavors, UCLA Anderson's MBA, Fully Employed MBA, Executive MBA, UCLA-NUS Executive MBA, Master of Financial Engineering, Master of Science in Business Analytics, doctoral and executive education programs embody the school's Think in the Next ethos. Annually, some 1,800 students are trained to be global leaders seeking the business models and community solutions of tomorrow.

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SOURCE UCLA Anderson School of Management