Leonard A. Valverde began his education career as a junior high school mathematics teacher around the same time as the civil rights movement was starting. He was a teacher in East Los Angeles during the time of the Watts Riots and student walk-outs occurred. Shaped by these societal events and his upbringing as a second generation Mexican-American his goal to work to bring about equal educational opportunity - was formed. Due to his actions to work toward his goal he was recruited by Claremont Graduate University and awarded a Ford Foundation Fellowship to study to be a change agent. Throughout his 35 years as an educator he has remained true to be an agent for change and true to his goal and expanded it i. e. to bring about social justice for persons of color. Specifically through the roles he has assumed (Bilingual program director math teacher supervisor university professor director of a research office department chair college dean vice president for academic affairs and dean of graduate studies and an now as executive director of a higher education consortium covering five southwest states) his efforts have been to make the educational enterprise more democratic and fair. Language: English