The California Social Welfare Archives (CSWA) hosted its annual awards luncheon on Oct. 30 at USC Town and Gown to honor Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti and social worker David Kuroda for their commitment to the advancement of social welfare.

Ralph Fertig, CSWA board member and clinical associate professor at the USC School of Social Work, presented Garcetti with the George D. Nickel Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service. Garcetti, who presides over the smallest and third poorest district in Los Angeles, has become a progressive voice on city and national issues.

Garcetti, who also delivered the keynote address, commended the audience of social workers, attorneys, counselors and students for their commitment to social action and talked about Los Angeles' growing problems with homelessness, transportation, employment, public education and housing – all issues close to his heart and his constituents. His district comprises a large immigrant population, with more than 100 languages spoken and 83 percent of its residents renting.

As chair and member of the Housing, Community and Economic Development Committee, Garcetti has been instrumental in creating a $100 million housing trust fund and revitalizing the Hollywood area. Noted for his embodiment of the ideals of service and leadership, he spoke about his particularly successful Park After Dark, an afterschool program for adolescents. The program offered engaging activities like skateboarding, art, basketball, poetry and hip-hop dance to help youth channel their energy and learn without influence from negative elements. Despite its positive aim, he said police initially feared the worst.

"We were able to keep the peace all summer long," said a proud Garcetti.

He also stressed the importance of reinvesting in the city and the potential of the people who live in Los Angeles and closing the gap between the "haves" and "have nots." He joked about peoples' confusion with his half-Jewish, half-Mexican ethnicity and Italian last name, but encouraged the audience to embrace those who are different.

"The entire world is watching us here in L.A. It is time to redefine what Los Angeles is about," he said in closing.

Following the keynote address, USC School of Social Work Distinguished Professor Emerita Frances Feldman presented David Kuroda the George D. Nickel Award for Outstanding Professional Services.

A veteran social worker of the Superior Court of Los Angeles, Kuroda directed the Mediation and Conciliation Service, the first and largest court mediation program in the nation. He parlayed his expertise in mental health, counseling and mediation into a successful private practice specializing in collaborative divorce. Kuroda sits on the advisory board of the Los Angeles Collaborative Family Law Association and has been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the California Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.

"Those of us who have chosen to work in social work did not do so for the money; instead, we chose it to become influencers and to help those who are less fortunate," Kuroda said upon acceptance of the Nickel award.

Established in 1979, CSWA maintains one of the most extensive and complete collections of California social welfare history. The volunteer-based group of social workers, librarians, archivists and other community leaders collects, preserves and makes available historically significant information that documents the emergence of social problems and the development of social welfare answers in California. The organization conducts its activities under the auspices of the USC School of Social Work, with its collections housed in the university library's Department of Special Collections located in Doheny Memorial Library.