HIS LEADERSHIP IMPRESSED A PRESIDENT.

Cameron Hajialiakbar

Class of 2013, JD 2016

Many UCLA students have formidable résumés, but few can say they were recognized by the White House. As an undergraduate, however, Cameron Hajialiakbar founded the UCLA chapter of Coaching Corps, a nonprofit that involves students in coaching kids from neighborhoods without access to park and school sports programs. His efforts caught the attention of the Obama administration, which named him a “Champion of Change” in 2012. For him, coaching was about building teamwork, discipline and self-esteem while repaying the mentors of his own childhood. Hajialiakbar’s undergraduate career also included teaching English in Zanzibar and volunteering at the AIDS Service Center. He then earned a law degree, developing a whole new set of tools for helping others.