This POSC 395 professional development event takes place on Wednesday, February 14 at 2:00 p.m. PT in the CPF office at SOS B15. POSC 395 students must attend at least two professional development events throughout the semester.

Join us for a coffee talk with Maia Ferdman, founder and principal of Bridges Intergroup Relations Consulting, which supports organizations and communities to build vibrant spaces of belonging – spaces celebrating our complex identities, proactively exploring our differences, and building resilient relationships between groups. Through this work Maia has developed numerous interfaith programs, trained government and nonprofit groups in cultural competency, and facilitated conversations across differences about policing, homelessness, Israel-Palestine, and more. Maia is also the Assistant Director of the University of California Los Angeles Luskin Center for History and Policy. She supports the center’s research and programming and produces the bi-weekly podcast “Then & Now.” She previously staffed The City of Los Angeles Human Relations Commission. Maia loves studying and is a product of globalization; she is a Jewish Argentinian Southern Californian who has lived in Bulgaria and spent extensive time in India and Israel. She received her B.A. in Global Studies and M.A. in Latin American Studies from UCLA.

Students interested in attending should contact unruhins@usc.edu for more information and the signup link.