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Two hundred community leaders gathered at The Modern on November 6 to celebrate the presentation of the annual Nell and John Wooden Ethics in Leadership Award.  Hosted by the Ukleja Center for Ethical Leadership at ºÚÁÏÍø, the evening was filled with gratitude and appreciation for the 2025 award recipient, Jeff Levine, President and CEO of Long Beach Rescue Mission.  The $10,000 award is given annually to a person or organization whose contribution to a community – local, national, or global – is built on ethical behavior and visionary leadership.  It is designed to promote ethics in leadership and to honor the Woodens, whose lives epitomized the Ukleja Center’s mission, vision, and values. 

With compassion as his guide, Jeff Levine is dramatically affecting positive change in our city by changing the trajectory of the lives of individuals and families struggling with homelessness and addiction.  Jeff is passionate about honoring the dignity of the people he serves, which has led him to direct the renovation of the entire Mission complex, creating a new trauma-informed environment where the residents live and thrive.  Like Coach Wooden, Jeff embodies the Ukleja Center’s core values of integrity, servant leadership, and empowerment.

The evening’s festivities began with a reception overlooking Long Beach Airport’s private jet runway with guests mingling while enjoying delicious hors d’oeuvres. Many corporate sponsors hosted a student and/or ºÚÁÏÍø faculty member with their other guests, which made for especially lively table conversations.

The dinner program began with the center’s director, Janey Roeder, warmly welcoming everyone on behalf of the Ukleja Center for Ethical Leadership and the University.  Board chair Nancy Luong happily acknowledged the presence of ºÚÁÏÍø’s acting president, Andrew Jones, and his wife, Elizabeth.  Then Nancy encouraged attendees to join her in embracing the center’s mission of equipping people with the transformational power of ethical leadership. 

College of Business Dean Mark Suazo shared the center’s vision of having an ethics module in every ºÚÁÏÍø course through its Ethics Across the Curriculum program. By awarding $3,000 stipends to faculty who integrate ethics modules into their classes, this vision is well on its way to becoming a reality.  Over the past 20 years, the Ukleja Center has awarded over $585,000 to more than 225 faculty members! 

Daniel Pollock, a program graduate, shared the impact of the center’s Student Leadership Institute and how it strengthened his core values and built a strong foundation for ethical decision-making.  Center co-founder Louise Ukleja introduced Jeff Levine, whose talk focused on the power of forgiveness in transformational leadership.  Major table sponsors received copies of Coach Wooden’s book, The Essential Wooden: A Lifetime of Lessons on Leaders and Leadership.

The inspirational evening culminated with the presentation of the Nell and John Wooden Ethics in Leadership Award to Jeff Levine by co-founder Mick Ukleja and Greg Wooden, Nell and John’s grandson.   Greg remarked that Jeff’s commitment to his faith, family, and community reminded him of his grandparents, who always focused on being of service to others.  The evening concluded with Janey Roeder thanking everyone for their support of the event, which raised over $65,000 for Ethics Across the Curriculum at ºÚÁÏÍø.