My personal experience in PLI not only clarified the systemic issues prevalent in American education, but empowered me with the tools to challenge, disrupt, and work to erase such inequities. In a much broader sense, PLI is improving the profession by creating opportunities where best practices in education are being implemented daily through the collective efforts from its faculty, alumni, and current students.

My experience in the UCLA PLI program helped establish the foundation by which I serve as a social justice leader in urban public schools and communities. Unlike other traditional administrative programs, the PLI faculty and staff helped me transform my philosophies of education by sharing tools and insights that would allow me to evolve into a democratic leader whose goals are to establish school reform by creating collaborative opportunities for all stakeholders within the learning community.