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Wes
is an attorney licensed to
practice law in California. He
practiced
discrimination law and poverty law in California for three years before
discovering his true calling – education.
Wes
spent seven years as a
teacher at Lee Mathson Middle School – the lowest performing middle
school in
Santa Clara County, California – with the poorest of the poor in the
affluent
Silicon Valley. The
school was situated
in the middle of a Latino gang turf war and was overridden with drugs,
violence, and poor educational focus.
In
working with a group of talented and driven educators, he was able to
help the
school move from worst in the county to best in the district within a
three-year-period. He
helped restore peace
and a sense of purpose to a place that many called “dangerous” and
“hopeless.” After
seven years as a teacher, Wes served in San Francisco Unified School
District as an Assistant Principal at Cesar Chavez Elementary
School and as principal at Bessie Carmichael School/Filipino
Education Center. He continued to work with educators in
transforming education for the highest-need children, particularly
impoverished Latino English language learners and African-Americans.
The
common thread between Wes’
occupations as an attorney and as an educator has been his passion for
helping
those who do not have a voice and who have been forgotten or written
off. In 2009, he worked heavily
with Gawad Kalinga not only to build homes and communities for the
poorest of
the poor in the Philippines, but also to build peace between the
warring
Christians and Muslims in the Mindanao region.
In
creating the ASELIS Learning Foundation,
he hopes to share his experience as an attorney, an educator, and a GK
volunteer to provide all children with a strong educational foundation,
all
communities with the knowledge and skills to cherish and protect the
education
of their children, and all people the chance to lead fulfilling
lives. He hopes to realize his dream of a world
without poverty, a world of peace.
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