Leadership Studies

The Leadership Initiative
The study and promotion of leadership in Los Angeles is critical. The social diversity, political fragmentation, geographic density and laws passed to encourage civic participation (i.e. neighborhood councils) make Los Angeles an urban city that is constantly evolving and needing to respond to change. Each new or chronic issue, or crisis, stimulates the calls for leaders – individuals and organization with vision, plans for action and the abilities to spur others to join in collective action to achieve positive change. Research and real world experience shows that the “leadership matters” regardless of issue, environment, agenda or desired outcome.

The Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University is one of the few organizations in the Southern California region engaged in a study of leadership and its relationship to urban outcomes in the city of Los Angeles.

At completion, the Center’s signature study, “The Leadership Initiative,” will have established the largest action oriented effort that identifies the top 1000 leaders in Los Angeles and integrates leadership, research, collective action and outcomes across Los Angeles’s infrastructure.


Bank of America Foundation Support for Education Sector Bank of America Foundation $200,000 grant for the Education Sector.












Rebuilding the Dream: A New Housing Agenda for Los Angeles
This major study outlines key opportunities for leadership in addressing southern California’s critical housing shortage. The research has received wide coverage in the local media, is used by numerous governmental officials and civic organizations, and is now being used in five separate courses.

Meeting Regional Infrastructure Needs: The Role of Leadership
There is virtually no systematic research on local leadership in greater Los Angeles. A study by the Center to appear in a forthcoming book on Los Angeles governance describes how, through informal political practices, local leaders can overcome the region’s governmental fragmentation.

New Leadership: L.A.’s Emerging Majority
In collaboration with the United Way of Greater Los Angeles and UCLA, the center asked 100 top Latino leaders to identify the most important challenges facing the area’s emerging majority. Key issues identified in the survey – education, housing, economic development, public safety, and health care – were discussed at a Latino Leaders Summit convened at LMU. The Center is currently working with the United Way on a benchmark analysis of these issues.

The Insitute for Leadership Studies
The goal of the Loyola Marymount University Institute for Leadership Studies is to teach students about leadership, while preparing them for leadership positions. This involves a combination of academic and experiential activities.