Administrative Management Group (AMG)

Beyond Training: Creating Learning Strategies for Your Team
2025-03-13 11:30 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | AMG Zoom Event, UCLA
In today’s complex and tumultuous work environment, continuous learning is key to team success, and professional development is key to retention and engagement. But how can managers, with everything else you have going on, create meaningful learning opportunities that drive impact?
In this session you will learn how to identify your team’s learning goals, define and clarify the impact you hoping learning will have on your team; and identify opportunities for your team members to learn new knowledge, apply new skills and behaviors, and reflect on learning.

Kelsey Duff is a board-certified coach executive coach, master facilitator and learning & organizational development consultant. She manages a portfolio of professional & leadership development programs and initiatives, where she helps UCLA employees increase their impact and enhance their careers through leadership and skill development, strategic personal exploration, and coaching. She is a UCLA alum who never left, with a degree in Art from UCLA, 14 years of coaching experience, and a passion for fostering engagement and excellence in others.
Kelsey Duff, BCC, ODCP
Professional & Career Development Portfolio Manager
UCLA Campus Human Resources, Learning & Organizational Development

AMG Lunch & Learn - Intentional Leadership: Fostering a Culture of Curiosity, Growth, Collaboration, & Inclusion
2025-04-15 12:00 - 13:00
The last several years have presented us with great challenges & opportunities within & beyond UCLA. It has become all the more critical to practice intentional & inclusive leadership to not only promote operational efficiencies but also staff growth, curiosity, collaboration & belonging. The Advising Communities of Excellence (ACE) Professional Development Program in which we lead, & the Center for Academic Advising in the College (CAAC) practice a staff-centered approach that cultivates learning, amplifies staff voices, & integrates staff perspectives into decision-making spaces. The result of a staff-centered model has been greater engagement, an openness to innovate, a drive for more thoughtful collaboration, & comprehensive support for students, staff, & each other within a community of care.
This session will share a framework for intentional leadership & demonstrate concrete strategies & initiatives to achieve these goals.
Marian H. Gabra, Ph.D. is the Senior Director of Learning & Development & Strategic Partnerships. In her role, she works collaboratively across campus to cultivate spaces of learning & growth for staff & students. She also works intentionally to build strategic collaborations between staff, faculty, & students. Marian also advises students in the Center for Academic Advising in the College. She earned her BA in English from Occidental College in 2002 & her doctorate in Comparative Literature from UCLA in 2010.
Alina Avila is the Coordinator of Advising Curricular Initiatives & Academic Advisor with the Center for Academic Advising in the College. Her experiences in ACE changed how she viewed her value & voice in various spaces across the institution & inspired her to turn the skills she has honed, such as advocating for students to faculty & leadership, towards amplifying staff voices. In her current role, she is able to work more directly with ACE to shift the campus culture built on institutional hierarchies.
Alina Avila. Coordinator of Advising Curricular Initiatives & Academic Advisor with the Center for Academic Advising in the College
Marian Gabra, Ph.D.Director, Advisor Training &Professional Development

AMG Lunch and Learn: Roles and Goals
2025-06-17 12:00 - 13:00 | AMG Zoom Event, UCLA
In this 1-hour interactive workshop, we’ll explore how to clarify your key roles—both personal and professional—and set meaningful, goal-driven priorities that elevate your daily work. You’ll discover how aligning your time and energy with what matters most can transform your productivity from ordinary to extraordinary.

AMG Lunch & Learn - Habits That Work: Building Better Professional Routines
2025-08-27 12:00 - 13:00 | AMG Zoom Event, UCLA
Join AMG on August 27th for a Lunch & Learn with Lola Ivy from Campus Human Resources!

Session Description
Discover how small, intentional habits can enhance your professional development in this engaging one-hour workshop, Habits That Work. This session encourages participants to reflect on the routines that shape their daily work lives. Through guided activities and useful tools, attendees will understand what and how effective habits are formed, as well as explore how habits can be intentionally designed for greater success.
Presenter Bio
Lola Ivy is a workshop facilitator and career management coach with over thirteen years of experience working for UCLA. Currently, she works for Campus Human Resources (CHR), managing a year-long career development program called the Staff Enrichment Program (SEP). Lola also serves as Vice Chair on the Administrative Management Group (AMG) board. Her educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from UCLA and a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership and Learning from Pepperdine University.

AMG Lunch & Learn: Coping and Thriving During Times of Uncertainty for Leaders
2025-11-06 12:00 - 13:30 | AMG Zoom Event, UCLA
Join us for this AMG Lunch & Learn on Thursday, November 6th from 12 – 1:30 PM with Liena Hsieh McCord, Assistant Director of the UCLA Staff and Faculty Counseling Center.
Lunch & Learn Description:
As uncertainty continues to surround us, its emotional is increasingly difficult to ignore – especially for leaders who must manage their own wellbeing while supporting their teams. The “Coping and Thriving During Times of Uncertainty for Leaders” presentation offers practical strategies to help leaders navigate emotional, physical, and psychological challenges, so they can cope and even thrive in their roles.
Participants will learn to:
• Recognize signs of compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma • Apply self-care tools, including mindset-shifting techniques
• Develop a personalized self-care plan
• Build and maintain a psychologically-safe workplace
Speaker Bio:
Liena McCord is the Assistant Director of the UCLA Staff and Faculty Counseling Center (SFCC). Liena is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and has been in practice for over 25 years. Liena attended University of Southern California where she earned her Master’s Degree in Social Work, and UC Irvine, obtaining her Bachelor’s in Psychology and minor in Sociology. Prior to joining UCLA in 2024, Liena provided behavioral health counseling, consultation, and presentations in other workplace EAP settings, such as Wells Fargo and the County of Los Angeles; worked with adults presenting with severe mental illness in outpatient and inpatient settings for the County of LA Department of Mental Health; and worked with adults, adolescents, and families in private practice.
Liena’s areas of interest and clinical experience include anxiety, depression, trauma, LGBTQIA+ communities, diversity, and domestic violence/threat concerns.

AMG Lunch & Learn: Best Practices in Career Development in the Age of AI
2026-02-24 12:00 - 13:00 | AMG Zoom Event, UCLA
Register Here!
Whether you are looking for a career pivot or to climb the career ladder, this workshop will position you to not only stay relevant, but ahead of the curve leveraging artificial intelligence. Attendees will engage through the chat feature (no cameras or breakout rooms required!) in this interactive discussion, and will be given an opportunity to consider your mindset, tools to assess your current place in the career planning life-cycle, and best practices on how to successfully accelerate the next step in your career.
Speaker Bio: Afomia “Mia” Seleshi serves as a Director of Alumni Career Engagement at UCLA Alumni Affairs. In this role, Mrs. Seleshi has three responsibilities: 1) leading the campus partner programs team that leverages alumni in the career development of students from those departments, 2) facilitating the career management of alumni, including designing and organizing networking events with senior level speakers at top organizations around the nation, and 3) leading employer relations for the Alumni Association.
In her last of three roles of a 15-year career at UCLA Anderson School of Management, Mrs. Seleshi served as Associate Director of Student Life in MBA Student Affairs. Before joining the MBA Student Affairs team, Mrs. Seleshi was the Program Manager for the UCLA-UAI Global Executive MBA for the Americas Program.
While earning her Executive M.B.A. (EMBA) from Loyola Marymount University in 2019, Mrs. Seleshi travelled to Japan and China leading her capstone project team to first place in class with a proposal for a professional development joint venture between an American and a Chinese top tech firm. She earned her B.A. from University of California, Los Angeles in Communication Studies in 2011, and an A.A. degree from Santa Monica College in 2009- the same year she graduated from the UCLA Staff Enrichment Program.

Research Administrator Workshop
2026-03-19 - 2026-03-20 | James West Alumni Center, UCLA, Los Angeles, 90095, United States
We invite you to participate in a unique two-day workshop centered on research administration, focusing on pre-award, post-award, and compliance issues. This workshop is designed for UCLA fund managers and research administrators who have 0-5 years of experience, as well as anyone who is interested in learning more about this field.
This intensive program will dive into common situations in research administration and provide strategies to address them by exploring basic fundamentals, case studies, simulations, and collaborative group exercises.
Price: $295 (Including Meals)
If you are interested in participating, please register by March 13, 2026.
For additional information contact AMG via email, amgbruin@g.ucla.edu

Annual UC AMP Conference
2026-04-13 - 2026-04-15 | UCLA Luskin Conference Center, 425 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Registration Open!
We are excited to announce the upcoming UC AMP Annual Conference, which will be held in Los Angeles, California, from April 12th to April 14th, 2026.
Date: April 12-14, 2026
Location: UCLA Luskin Conference Center
Accommodations: UCLA Luskin Conference Center
Theme: One UC, Many Voices: Building Resilience Together!
Register Here.
Registration cost: $595
Hotel room rate for conference nights April 12 and 13: $329, the link to book a room will be provided after you complete your registration.

Mark your calendars for an inspiring and rewarding three days of scheduled keynotes, break out sessions, and networking opportunities with your peers and the University of California leadership members.
This conference is being planned by the 2025-26 UC AMP Board!

AMG Lunch & Learn - Your Well-being Story: Strategies that Fit your Leadership Narrative
2026-04-23 12:00 - 13:00 | AMG Zoom Event, UCLA
Join us for this AMG Lunch & Learn on Thursday, April 23rd from 12 – 1 PM with Dr. Drea Letamendi! Dr. Letamendi will guide participants in learning grounding and wellness techniques designed to lift your mood and fit your own personal story of leadership.

Dr. Drea Letamendi
Inaugural Director of Compassionate Response (CORE), UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)
Dr. Drea Letamendi (she/her/ella) is a clinical psychologist, mental health advisor for the entertainment industry, and two-time TEDx speaker with an undergraduate degree from Cornell University and her PhD from UCSD. After completing her postdoc at UCLA’s Department of Psychology, Dr. Drea served UCLA as a campus mental health leader, which included 3 years as the Interim Director of the UCLA Resilience Center and 8 years as the Associate Director of Mental Health Training, Intervention, and Response in Residential Life. In 2025, Dr. Drea began serving as the Inaugural Director of UCLA CAPS Compassionate Response, or “CORE.” CAPS CORE is the UCLA’s first mobile crisis response program that deploys a team of unarmed first responders who support, assist, and provide mental health care for Bruins in crisis throughout our campus community. Dr. Drea also has a private practice as a behavioral science advisor for the gaming, tech, and entertainment media industries and has written publications about the positive impacts of media on mental health, as covered in the Atlantic, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. She also delivers trainings to studios to help industry leaders use science-backed behavioral health practices on-screen and behind the scenes. Among her recent publications includes: The Force Awakens: Using Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Using Star Wars. She is the creator and co-host of THE ARKHAM SESSIONS, a podcast about the psychology of superheroes. For more information visit her website, drdreapsychology.com.
