Gabriel A. Orosco

Gabriel A. Orosco is a high school dropout who fell prey to the school-to-prison pipeline. He pursued his dream to attend USC via community college and has been an educator for 25 years. At USC, he earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Finance and minored in Economics. At USC, he began his grassroots organizing with the student organization, La Raza Political Action Committee. As an instrument of change, they created a monument on campus honoring the late civil rights leader Cesar Chavez.

He has been in special education for the last 9 years. Since 1997, Gabriel began teaching Xicano studies grounded in Indigenous Pedagogy at the elementary level. He is an education/non-profit cultural consultant focusing on culturally relevant pedagogy, anti-racist, anti-colonial, and Indigenous epistemologies.

Gabriel has been involved in community activism since the 1990s fighting against such legislation like propositions 187 & 227 in California. He also received “Social Justice Teacher of the Year” award from a teacher organization in the city of Los Angeles. He is former President of El Rancho Unified School Board, where he served from 2016-2020. El Rancho was one of the first school districts to make Ethnic Studies a graduation requirement.

Gabriel is currently pursuing a doctoral degree with an emphasis in social justice and is a traditional Aztec dancer/activist/scholar who is passionate about cultural diversity, respect for all people, culturally responsive curriculum, and Ethnic Studies.

Gabriel honors his indigenous identity, culture, and spirituality.  He continues to teach, inspire, and motivate students, educators, and the community to become agents of change.