Personal Biography:

I was born in Mexico in the state of Durango. I came to the United States in 1992 when I was 17 years old. I first became involved with the Institute of Popular Education of Southern California (IDEPSCA) in 1994 through the day laborer organizing project in Pasadena. I was one of the day laborers who stood on the corners seeking jobs. Through this initial contact, I became aware of the root causes of poverty and consequently why thousands of young people like myself, leave their families behind.

Being an immigrant and former day laborer, I consider myself a product of IDEPSCA's self-development philosophy. I started teaching Spanish literacy in 1995 and then taught English as a Second Language, and at the end of two years, I taught US Citizenship classes. This self-development, self-generating principle helped me developed further.

In 1997 I started working on the technology project of IDEPSCA by teaching basic computer literacy to other day laborers, domestic workers, ESL and Literacy volunteers. I am a self-taught computer specialist. As of to-date, I direct the Technology Project at IDEPSCA by providing technical support to our staff, members, volunteers, and other organizations. I'm also in charge of developing training programs and to design related materials for IDEPSCA's different projects. Through my involvement with IDEPSCA, I learned to plan and to facilitate workshops on popular education.

Throughout these eight years, I have developed a clearer understanding of this society's structural contradictions and how they manifest in every socio, economic, cultural and political reality, at the local, regional, national as well as international level. As a consequence, my personal commitment toward the poor, Latino immigrant and the disenfranchised has grown deeper. I have been privileged to acquire fine skills in both popular education methodology and computer technology that further assists people like others and myself. I love to read analytical articles that help me grow as a human being as well as a professional. I am bilingual, biliterate and I try to use these assets to ensure that we democratize our institutions as we come to grips with our current political reality.

Goals:

To learn new leadership and technology skills, which I can put in practice in my everyday community work.