Every October, Columbians around the world—alumni, students, parents, friends, neighbors, faculty, and staff—come together for Columbia Giving Day, a 24-hour online fundraising event on Oct. 26, 2016. Our alumni are deeply committed to making a real difference in the world.  To support Giving Day, the work our alumni do, and to virtually say “thanks” to all of SIPA’s alumni who take on global issues, big and small, I’ll share one alumni story a week every Friday this month.  The videos highlight the work of especially distinguished SIPA alumni, underscoring their various contributions to our society in the US and abroad.

“They say you can see the face of the world on the streets of Los Angeles,” says Mayor Eric Garcetti MIA ’93. Elected in 2013 to lead a city where residents from more than 115 countries of origin speak more than 220 languages, Garcetti sees strength in diversity. He wants Los Angeles to “become an example of how we bring folks across cultures together to build a new city.”