In Spring 2009 a complete stranger spoke to an audience of 400+ high school students about the impact of bullying. As a junior in high school Ishmael was blown away by his ability to capture the attention of a diverse group of students, shift their minds, and inspire actions within a 40 minute lunch period. From this moment Ishmael not only became inspired to be a youth advocate, but had an immense passion to build courage to craft a message that would empower the minds of students who would believe in themselves and create better days for themselves, their families, and their community. A decade later Ishmael had the privilege of making this a reality and has been requested to speak to students from the universities and community colleges, to elementary school and everything in between.

 

Through his struggles in college to his many years as a professional in higher education, Ishmael understands that the solution to social change comes through the education and empowerment of students. This multi-year academic probation recipient is a proud Sacramento State and Long Beach State alumni and the Co-Founder and CEO of Project Optimism, Inc. a non-profit that spans across California, providing educational equity consulting, K- college programs, and community engagement.

His life mission is to stimulate the ambition of our next generation of leaders. He finds that when students are able to see themselves beyond their inherited circumstances, their understanding of education is shifted from a destination to a tool that will create better days for themselves, their families, and their communities.