SAMUEL LAZALDE is a native of Los Angeles born into an environment filled with gang violence, leading him to Juvenile Hall, Juvenile encampments, and ultimately a hospital bed with a gunshot wound. He shifted his detrimental trajectory by earning his Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Southern California and working in various capacities for the Mayor’s Gang Reduction and Youth Development Office. Currently Samuel is working with Communities In Schools, where he hopes to continue being of instrumental service to the very change he would like to see across Los Angeles. In his free time, Samuel indulges in the noble art of pugilism and has used the opportunity to mentor young men exiting the prison system.