Aleks Zavaleta
Loco Bloco
San Francisco, CA USA
"Do what you gotta do so that when you get to do what you wanna do, you are able to."
Career Roadmap
Aleks's work combines: Music, Non-Profit Organizations, and Teaching / Mentoring
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Day In The Life
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
Was initiated into a gang at a young age; got involved with alcohol and drugs.
2.
Dropped out of middle school; felt dissociated from the European culture she was being taught.
3.
Her sisters convinced her to start taking classes at Loco Bloco, where she studied cooking, drums and theater.
4.
Got so caught up having fun and learning at these workshops, she stopped drinking, got off the streets.
5.
Loco Bloco inspired her to work hard and save her money so she could travel and learn more.
6.
Recognized the profound influence her mentors had on her; knew that she wanted to pay it forward.
7.
Was appointed executive director of Loco Bloco at the young age of 25.
8.
Has one regret, which is not finishing school; always pushing the value of an education to her mentees.
Defining Moments
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
I was born here but I didn't speak English for the first few years of my life. And then when you get to school and you don't know english, it was very mean.
I ended up getting into a gang and kinda did the whole street life... fighting, drugs, alcohol, all the crazy stuff. I never graduated middle school and never went to high school.