UCLA student and Paso native wins $10,000 grant for senior project
Jessa Culver will create a ‘Global Development Lab’ at UCLA with grant money
Jessa Culver.
Jessa Culver, a current undergraduate student at UCLA, who originally hailed from Paso Robles, was recently awarded a $10,000 dollar grant from the Strauss Foundation to start a project on the school’s campus.
Culver grew up in Paso Robles and graduated from Mission College Preparatory High School in 2013. At UCLA, she is majoring in international development studies and minoring in Spanish. She is an intern at the International Institute Office of Development and an outdoor guide for UCLA Recreation.
With the grant, Culver will launch a, ‘Global Development Lab’ that focuses on, “addressing global poverty by creating a space for students to cultivate and implement public service projects abroad,” Culver explained.
“Basically what we are trying to do is institutionalize a ‘lab’ at UCLA where students can learn more about development work (which focuses on poverty alleviation) and what they can do to make a true impact. Through this program, 20 undergraduate students from any background will apply and be selected to go through a one-year curriculum at school,” she said.
This curriculum will combine both faculty and professionals in the field, who will come to talk about various topics including: what is development work, and how they can help people in a manner that is culturally contingent. “After that, students will research and start planning their own projects that they will implement anywhere in the world, such as: a school gardening program in Tanzania, a computer-training project in Ecuador, etc..” she said.
Students will then learn the “hard skills” of development work, such as:
- grant writing
- how to write proposals
- how to navigate social media
- how to pitch ideas to funders & boards
- how to organize/manage a project, etc.
“After the year has completed, students should have a well-developed and funded project that they are ready to make happen during the summer. When they come back in the fall, they evaluate their projects, share with the new round of students, and it becomes a whole network of people who are all passionate about poverty alleviation and development work,” she said. She hopes to have the project up and running by next fall.
Culver said that she came into UCLA wanting to understand, “why some countries are wealthy while others are poor, and what the factors are that contribute to poverty and global health issues.”
Last summer her passion took her to Urubama, Peru, where she worked with a non-profit called “Pro Peru.” There she started her own project at an elementary school, where she taught Spanish and English and refurnished their old library. “I wanted to be able to share this amazing experience with like-minded people and make it easier for them to start their own projects,” she said.
Last Culver traveled to Urubama, Peru, where she worked with a non-profit.
After graduation, Culver says that her current plans include obtaining a Master’s degree in Public Health and continue working for non-profit organizations. “In the very distant future, I hope to work for an international organization such as the World Health Organization,” she said.
Culver will be working on the project with fellow student and grant recipient Noah Lizerbram of Carlsbad. The two will be the leaders and co-founders of this new lab.
About the The Donald A. Strauss Public Service Scholarship Foundation
The Donald A. Strauss Public Service Scholarship Foundation was established as a memorial to the late Don Strauss of Newport Beach and is now designed to award $10,000 scholarships to as many as 15 California college sophomores and juniors annually.
Don Strauss served 10 years on the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board, and 12 years on the Newport Beach City Council, including one as mayor.
He also founded summer internships in Washington, D.C., for students at Cornell University, Stanford University, the University of Rhode Island, the California Institute of Technology and Harvey Mudd College, and he endowed scholarships at Stanford, U.C. Irvine and Harvey Mudd. He died in 1995 at the age of 79.
Strauss’ widow, Dorothy M.R. Strauss, established the foundation in January of 1997 as a “tribute to the vision, ideals and leadership of Donald A. Strauss.” In its first year, the foundation board invited 10 universities to nominate up to three students each for Strauss scholarships, with the board making the final selection of the 10 winners. Dorothy Strauss saw her vision for the foundation realized — she phoned each of the 10 first-year winners to notify them personally — before she passed away in October of 1997 at the age of 83.
In the second year the foundation was able to broaden its reach and award 15 $10,000 scholarships, and now gives 10-15 each year. This represents the Foundation’s 19th group of recipients—since its inception.
For more information go to www.straussfoundation.org.
