Howard and Irene Levine Program in Housing and Social Responsibility

Howard and Irene Levine Program in Housing and Social Responsibility

 

Housing is fundamental to our quality of life, not just in Los Angeles, but around the world. UCLA possesses the academic expertise and core public education and service mission to play a leadership role in this area. The Howard and Irene Levine Program in Housing and Social Responsibility addresses timely and critical issues related to urban and rural housing markets; and affordable housing policy, provision and sustainability; particularly the housing needs and outcomes of low-income and workforce households.

The Levine Program, comprised of a multifaceted set of enterprises, challenges and inspires UCLA students to think about broader societal issues in the context of their professional and personal pursuits, empowers UCLA faculty and doctoral students to undertake cutting edge research in the field, and enables the Ziman Center to serve the community by promoting public dialogue and education, all for the betterment of society.

Program Details

The Howard and Irene Levine Program in Housing and Social Responsibility is made possible by a generous gift from Howard and Irene Levine. Mr. Levine is a member of the Founding Board of the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate and is a distinguished alumnus of the UCLA Anderson School of Management. In 2011 UCLA Anderson celebrated its 75th anniversary and identified Howard Levine among its 100 Inspirational Alumni.

Graduate Course in Affordable Housing Development

The Levine Program's Affordable Housing Development & Finance MBA course elective (MGMT298E) is designed to provide students with a foundational understanding of affordable and workforce housing development. The course will begin by familiarizing students with the site selection and acquisition process, and will then explore the complexities associated with land use, entitlements, and the political landscape. Next, the course will evaluate the various financing tools available to affordable housing developers, including low-income housing tax credits, tax-exempt bond financing, and various federal, state and local funding sources. Classroom activity consists of lectures, case studies, guest speakers, and a final project.

UCLA Distinguished Speaker Series in Affordable Housing

The UCLA Distinguished Speaker Series in Affordable Housing brings industry experts and scholars to UCLA to engage students in the critical issues related to urban and rural housing markets, and housing policy and sustainability, particularly the housing needs and outcomes of homeless populations and low-income and workforce households. Leading business practitioners and policymakers discuss the current trends in affordable housing development and preservation in Southern California. Lecture topics include: affordable housing finance and development in California in the wake of the dissolution of redevelopment agencies, transit-oriented community development (TOD/TOC), community economic development, homelessness and permanent supportive housing and services, health and housing, and green building and approaches to creating more sustainable neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

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MBA Real Estate Field Study

One of the key components of the Ziman Center’s Levine Program is an MBA Real Estate Field Study which is implemented through UCLA Anderson's Applied Management Research Program (AMR), Strategic Management Research (SMR), or Center for Impact's Social Impact Consulting Corp Program (SICC).

The Ziman Center’s Levine Program is partnering with UCLA Anderson’s Social Impact Consulting Corp Program in 2024 to select one or more client projects from a housing nonprofit, government/public sector agency, or social enterprise to work with a team of Anderson MBA candidates during their April 3 - June 5, 2024 consulting program cycle. SICC's MBA student teams are guided by a faculty advisor in a directed 10-week pro bono engagement with the client to address a strategic priority or challenge and deliver solutions through top-notch analysis. Levine Program SICC client projects may encompass topics such as homelessness and permanent supportive housing, affordable housing, health and housing, the built environment, transportation, and sustainability. Under this partnership, SICC teams will also be eligible to apply for a $5,000 Ziman Center Levine Program grant on behalf of their client to help implement and/or operationalize the recommendations developed by the students over the course of the program.

Annual Housing Symposium

Under the auspices of the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate, the Levine Program supports an annual symposium focused on issues such as housing markets, housing finance and policy, affordable housing, homelessness and permanent supportive housing and services, workforce housing, health and housing, and green building and sustainability.

Fellowships in Housing and Sustainability

The Levine Distinguished Fellows Program augments the training of the most gifted and ambitious graduate students pursuing real estate education at UCLA in the areas of low-income and/or workforce housing affordability, related policy, homelessness and permanent supportive housing, housing and health, sustainability and redevelopment. The Center selects an exclusive group of students each year to serve one-year terms as Levine Distinguished Fellows. Fellows are chosen for their passion for real estate and social responsibility, academic accomplishments, leadership, and service to the real estate program at UCLA.

The program is open to any UCLA Anderson MBA/EMBA/FEMBA student, UCLA Law student, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs Urban Planning or Public Policy student, or UCLA Fielding School of Public Health student who is entering the last year of a UCLA Anderson/Law/SPA/Fielding graduate studies program. Program highlights include honorific designation as a Levine Distinguished Fellow, group dinners with a relevant high-level Ziman Center industry affiliate, social entrepreneurial real estate leadership training; select internship opportunities and targeted career planning and placement, complimentary admission to all UCLA Ziman Center events, including the invitation-only Center summits, policy briefings, and industry events; and an education supplemental benefit for related events, trainings and memberships.

Housing and Sustainability Research

The Levine Program annually awards research stipends to UCLA faculty, post-doctoral scholars, and visiting scholars to undertake cutting-edge research in the field of housing affordability and sustainability, real estate finance, urban economics and associated topics such as capital markets, housing and mortgage and related securitization markets, macroeconomics and the regional economy, land use, environmental sustainability, urban transportation, municipal finance, housing and health-related outcomes, and the regulatory environment. Academic research papers funded by the Levine Program are disseminated via the UCLA Ziman Center Working Paper Series, monthly UCLA Economic Letter and UCLA Affordable Housing Policy Brief.

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