CALIFORNIA’S ECONOMY is the largest state economy in the country, with a $3.37 trillion gross state product. But as is the case everywhere, the benefits are not reaped equally among its 39 million residents. Cities and communities throughout the Golden State face challenges including housing shortages, unaffordability, and homelessness, along with inadequate transportation for people in need—factors that interweave to contribute to social and economic inequality. Harvard Kennedy School alumni in California are addressing these challenges in numerous ways.
—
WHEN YOU CONSIDER SCOTT HUGO’S TRAJECTORY since high school, he comes across as an overachiever: a dual degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, in political science and history; a Rhodes Scholarship and an MPhil in international relations from Oxford University; a joint Juris Doctor/Master in Public Policy from Harvard Law School and Harvard Kennedy School. But Hugo is disarmingly modest about his accomplishments.
“The way I look at it,” he explains, “is that when you’ve had the opportunities that I’ve had, when you’ve had supportive family and teachers, when you’ve had the privilege that I have, there’s a responsibility that comes with that. I wouldn’t call it overachieving; I would call it doing my best to live up to that responsibility.”
That responsibility to give back to the community, to others struggling to get by, and to often-ignored populatio