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Philanthropy often presents an opportunity to honor the past while powering the future. After Barbara Edelston Yaroslavsky passed away suddenly in 2018, her husband, Zev Yaroslavsky ’71, MA ’72, wanted to memorialize her spirit of compassionate activism and her dedication to health care for all. Director of UCLA Luskin’s Los Angeles Initiative, he worked with the school to set up the Barbara Edelston Yaroslavsky Memorial Fellowship Fund.
Community Commitment
Honoring her devotion to improving lives, the new fund will support students who demonstrate similar leadership in their communities, with an emphasis on health and public health policy. Stipends will help cover the cost of tuition, fees, and other educational expenses, so that students can focus on their studies, including hands-on learning and service opportunities.
“While Barbara has left an enormous legacy, this project will ensure that her passion for equity and access to quality health care will live on in future generations of policymakers who share her commitment,” says Yaroslavsky. “It is here at UCLA that our courtship started 52 years ago, and it is appropriate that this fund be established at this university she loved so much.”
A Legacy of Leaders
Since creating the fund in 2019, UCLA Luskin has raised more than $811,000 from individual donors, securing matching funds of more than $400,000 through the UCLA Chancellor’s Centennial Scholars Match Initiative. The school continues to seek contributions to the fund to extend its benefits to even more students. Says Dean Gary Segura: “These gifts will make a difference in the life of someone who will go on to make a difference in our world as a practitioner, researcher, or policymaker.”
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Published December 2020
Zev Yaroslavsky worked with UCLA Luskin to establish the new fund in memory of his late wife, Barbara Edelston Yaroslavsky.
Faculty and longtime Los Angeles leader Zev Yaroslavsky continues to support local programs and policy development, including speaking at the 2019 UCLA Luskin Summit.
