annual gala

Event

Annual Gala

Celebrating the champions of our Planet's Future

On March 26, 2016 we celebrated champions of our planet's future.

We face unprecedented stresses on food, water and energy systems. Fresh ideas, breakthrough technologies and heightened public engagement are urgently needed. The UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability represents a new kind of environmental science—a science that eschews ‘doom and gloom’ and embraces inclusiveness, innovation, and a proactive vision for the world we want in 2050. Students and faculty at the Institute are rising to a global challenge. Not only do we conduct some of the world’s most impactful environmental research, we put it in the hands of decision makers to drive much needed change.

Honorees

  • Ted Sarandos, Industry innovator, Chief Content Officer at Netflix
  • Eric Schmidt, Technology leader, Executive Chairman of Alphabet (formerly Google), mentor
  • Wendy Schmidt, Environmental philanthropist, President of The Schmidt Family Foundation and Founder, Schmidt Ocean Institute
  • Jeff Skoll, Social catalyst, visionary, chairman of Participant Media and the Skoll Foundation

With special guest Al Gore

Event Co-Chairs

  • Lawrence Bender
  • Alexandria Jackson

Host Committee

  • Courtney Cox
  • Laura Dern
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt
  • Goldie Hawn
  • Kate Hudson
  • Lyn Norman Lear
  • Gwyneth Paltrow
  • Barbra Streisand
  • Charlize Theron
  • Owen Wilson

UCLA IoES Board of Advisors

  • Tina Quinn, Board Chair
  • Lawrence Bender
  • Ken Button
  • Andy Cohen
  • Lee Cooper
  • Linda L. Duttenhaver
  • Peter Gross
  • Sydney D. Holland
  • Alexandria Jackson
  • Morton La Kretz
  • Cindy Montanez
  • Tony N. Pritzker
  • Jesse Sisgold
  • Daniel Weiss

UCLA IoES Leadership

Peter Kareiva

Director, UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability

Keith Stolzenbach

IoES Associate Director and Professor, Department of Civil Environmental Engineering