instructor

Andrew Kurtz wants people who are struggling with mental health and substance use issues to know it is OK to ask for help. Having worked at UCLA Extension for almost a decade, Kurtz is training the next generation of helpers. "I have always had an ...

Growing up in picturesque Chile, Gabriel Pacheco found himself drawn to the beauty of the natural landscape around him. While his journey has included detours far afield from his current career, Pacheco eventually found his way back to nature at UCLA ...

Dina LaPolt lives her life with an ethos of doing the right thing and doing right by the people who need her help the most. Her activist streak sprang to life in high school, when the administration unfairly fired a popular guidance counselor, keeping ...

When she was young, Ebony Talley joked she always had her hands full with either books or worms. She was fascinated with how the world worked at the tiniest levels. "I knew very early on that I was a big science nerd," she said. "No one was surprised ...

K Tak knows that there is a certain baggage that comes with tattoo art. It is often confined to the corners of society, covered up when in company, and somewhat opaque to the average person. "But tattoo art has 5,300 years of history," she added. "And ...

Clifford Brooks wears many hats — poet, editor in chief, podcaster, head of a writers collective and UCLA Extension instructor. Through those endeavors he has created a community for himself as a writer, fostering projects across professions and ...

Keith Jefferies has witnessed a lot of change during his 46-year career in computer science at UCLA Extension. From programming in the age before the internet, teaching online classes through chat forums, to learning how to teach software development ...

Sean Van Aacken has always been driven to help others succeed. Since his early days at McDonald's, to his current role as a leading expert at UCLA Extension on education strategy, Van Aacken has placed an emphasis on building relationships and ...

Jeff DeLarme watched his father sometimes work 80 hours a week as a Xerox repairman to make a better life for his family. The way his parents thought about money had a lasting impact on a young DeLarme, who grew up wanting to help other families make ...

When fire took her townhome, UCLA Extension instructor Nancy Spiller turned to the one respite she has leaned on throughout her life - putting pen to paper. Spiller is a big believer in the therapeutic nature of creativity in the wake of trauma and ...