Melany De La Cruz-Viesca is the Deputy Director of the UCLA Asian American Studies Center and the Managing Editor of AAPI Nexus, a nationwide journal focusing on Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) policy, practice, and community issues. She also runs a Census Information Center, a joint partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau. She is the lead author of “The Color of Wealth in Los Angeles,” the first report examining the racial wealth gap in Los Angeles.

Her research focuses on racial stratification, demographics, and public policy issues in the United States. She specializes in examining the experiences AAPIs in relation to wealth inequities, housing, community economic development, and education. 

Melany is the former Chair of the Closing the Women’s Wealth Gap Research Working Group. She was appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and re-appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti to the City’s Human Relations Commission. She holds a master’s in urban planning from UCLA and a bachelor’s in ethnic studies and urban studies and planning from UC San Diego.