For over 30 years, I have participated in social movements that seek to transform society. I work to end structural racism, and discrimination of all kinds, as an independent consultant, community organizer and college teacher.

Since 2003, I have trained students at UCLA to fight injustice while partnering them with organizations working for social change. Together, we have challenged racism in the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, supported formerly incarcerated people to build power to change laws that discriminate against them, and helped undocumented college students build a voice and a social movement. Currently, I integrate UCLA student learning in the social movement to abolish youth incarceration in California.

After law school, I worked as a human rights advocate in Central America and recently mobilized volunteers to support migrants and refugees during the 2018 caravans in México.

I have served as a case advocate for homeless families, a community organizer for people on welfare in South Los Angeles and for formerly incarcerated people.

Today, I work to enhance the capacity of change-agents by:

* Training people to build an organized voice using base-building strategies, power mapping/power analysis, and designing campaigns

* Facilitating systems-change efforts to end mass incarceration and racial injustice by shifting public resources from human caging to human needs

* Designing and teaching courses related to social change and Critical Race Theory at the university level

* Facilitating collaborative partnerships to solve problems and achieve structural change

* Developing community outreach and civic engagement strategies.

My ancestors hail from the mountains of Durango, México, a state in the northern part of the country (where this picture was taken). I was born and raised in LA, where I support the leadership development of people working across racial lines, issues, and geographies to advance social justice.