Lauda Lecture 2025

About the Donald P. Lauda Wellness Lecture

Established in 2002 through a grant from the Kaiser Permanente Foundation, The Donald P. Lauda Wellness Lectureship was established to bring knowledge to the 好色先生 campus and the community at large through an innovative series of presentations by renowned experts in mental, physical, and spiritual health.  Beginning in 2012, the Lauda Wellness Lecture Series has been incorporated as the signature event for inaugural 鈥淐ollege of Health & Human Services Wellness Week鈥 and will be held in the campus landmark building, the Walter Pyramid.  The lecture series draws a wide audience of attendees that includes students, alumni, faculty, and members of local and regional civic and private organizations, as well as friends and supporters of the University. 
 
Donald Lauda envisioned the annual wellness lecture as a community forum for exploring important health and wellness issues. As such, Kaiser Permanente shared his vision and provided funds to begin an endowment that would encourage broader support. Since its inception, several community members and corporate partners, particularly PacifiCare, have since made contributions to help grow the lectureship.  The Lauda Wellness Lecture series presents outstanding lectures on topics of widespread interest in the field of wellness. Topics are chosen to provide information and insight into wellness to further our understanding and move us to engage in a more healthful life.   Our speakers are selected to educate, challenge, and inspire us with the latest in theory, research, philosophical, and practical innovations in attaining, maintaining, and promoting health. 
 

2025 Lauda Lecture

Event: Donald P. Lauda Wellness Lecture 2025 on Abolition: Imagining Safety Without Prisons

Date: Wednesday, March 26, 2025 

Time: 2:00 PM 鈥 3:30 PM

Location: Anna W. Ngai Alumni Center

Speaker Bios

Dr. Mimi Kim, Associate Professor in the School of Social Work 

Mimi Kim

 

Co-Editor of Abolition and Social Work: Possibilitites, Paradoxes, and the Practice of Community Care, Dr. Mimi Kim is a long-time anti-domestic violence advocate in Asian immigrant and refugee communities and other communities of color and remains active in the promotion of community organizing, community accountability, transformative justice and restorative justice approaches to violence intervention and prevention. Dr. Kim currently teaches social work policy and macro social work practice. She also supervises MSW thesis projects. 


 

 

 

 

 

Chris Johnson, Executive Director of Success Stories

Chris Johnson

Chris Johnson is the Executive Director of Success Stories, which works in places where people have committed harm and/or are survivors of systemic harm, such as prisons, jails, group homes, re-entry programs and schools. Chris worked as the Coach and local President of Success Stories while incarcerated at CTF Soledad. He holds 5 Associates Degrees in multiple disciplines.