studies, and helped resurrect the long dormant Disabled Students Union (DSU). During this time he established the Disability Media Initiative (DMI) and the Pineda Foundation to provide 21st century workforce skills to youth with disabilities. Pineda earned a B.A. in political economy, a B.S. in business administration and, eventually, a master's degree in city and regional planning (MCP) with a concentration in regional economic development. He then accepted an internship in Washington, D.C., where he served as a summer associate at the US Treasury's Department of International Affairs. In 2006, Pineda received a graduate equity and diversity fellowship to pursue a doctoral degree in urban planning at the Luskin School for Public Affairs at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he wrote his doctoral dissertation in the field of social policy formation. In 2009, he was awarded the US Department of Education's Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship and the Sheikh Saud Qassimi Public Policy Fellowship at the Dubai School of Government. His dissertation made theoretical, methodological and empirical contributions to the fields of urban planning, human rights, and development. Pineda received his PhD with distinction in 2010 for his dissertation entitled, The Capability Model of Disability: Assessing the Success of UAE Federal Law No. 29 of 2006 in the Emirate of Dubai. Philanthropy As a student at UC Berkeley, Pineda received an award for a short form documentary he directed about life in Cuba. and has subsequently used film as a platform to discuss human rights issues in Serbia, Bosnia, Thailand, Yemen, Kenya, Syria, Qatar, Armenia and other parts of the world. Pineda formed an artist collective called, Babylon Arts Group that featured noted artists like Jasko Begovic. The mission of the group was to aid in the development of artists across a variety of disciplines including literature, music, film, and textile arts. Through the Pineda Foundation, Pineda has helped direct 2.5 million dollars towards programs that support youth with disabilities. Through successful partnerships with UNICEF, UNESCO, the World Bank, the Pineda Foundation has elevated global attention on including youth with disabilities into development programs. Among the foundation's most significant accomplishments are the creation of "It's Our Story", the US National Flagship project that contains over 1,300 video testimonials and thousands of still photos on the current experience of living in America with a disability, the launch of World Enabled (WE) as a platform for information and