Learn how budding leaders take their skills to the next level to stand out among the crowd. The Bruin Leadership Academy takes elements from UCLA’s nationally renowned, campus-sponsored program, the Bruin Leaders Project, to explore what makes a successful leader. Drawing from the Social Change Model of Leadership which promotes self-awareness, interests, talents and values, students will learn to view leadership as a process rather than a position. 

Our Social Media Academy will explore how today’s internet personalities created and maintained their brands as they rose to prominence and track those individuals’ impacts on society to examine the strategies they employ to stay relevant. This academy will examine different social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Twitch and YouTube, to see how people are able to develop content that makes them relevant. This course will review how celebrities who rose to fame independent of social media - like Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylie Jenner, Ariana Grande and Tom Holland - use various platforms to continue to expand their brand. We will also explore how social media influencers, like Huda Kittan, Zach King, Andrew Bachelor, Jake Paul and Lilly Singh have built their brands primarily through social media platforms. This academy will examine the successes, failures and scandals that have followed many social media stars while looking at the different metrics and strategies used to navigate this rapidly changing medium.