48 min
11 - From South LA to CEO with Yusuf-Andre Wiley Companions for Change
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- Non-Profit
Yusef-Andre Wiley was born October 24, 1969 and raised in South Los Angeles, California. Both his parents, Betty and Sampson Wiley, are originally from Texas. Yusef-Andre is the youngest of five children. By the age of 13, he started associating with gang members and getting into trouble around the neighborhood. After serving a juvenile sentence, he continued his gang involvement in the areas of South LA (Compton, Watts and Willowbrook). The negative lifestyle that comes with being a "gang banger" eventually landed him in the California prison system at the age of 21.
After being placed in solitary confinement, Mr. Wiley began to discover his spirituality and later converted to Islam. It was his spiritual faith that took him away from the violence and destruction of gang life to a purposeful and honorable way of living. He served 22 years before he was released in May 2012 at the age of 43. Mr. Wiley has now been working for many years to end gang and youth violence through his program development, writing, and intervention.
Mr. Wiley also has assisted several reentry start-up organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area, was a former Commissioner on the Human Relations Commission of the City of Union City, and sat on Alameda County reentry panels and advisory boards. He is an author and has gained an AA Degree in Small Business Management as well as earned a degree in Paralegal Studies. Additionally, Yusef-Andre Wiley is a certified speaker, trainer and life coach of the John Maxwell Team, an international certification program.
Yusef-Andre Wiley was born October 24, 1969 and raised in South Los Angeles, California. Both his parents, Betty and Sampson Wiley, are originally from Texas. Yusef-Andre is the youngest of five children. By the age of 13, he started associating with gang members and getting into trouble around the neighborhood. After serving a juvenile sentence, he continued his gang involvement in the areas of South LA (Compton, Watts and Willowbrook). The negative lifestyle that comes with being a "gang banger" eventually landed him in the California prison system at the age of 21.
After being placed in solitary confinement, Mr. Wiley began to discover his spirituality and later converted to Islam. It was his spiritual faith that took him away from the violence and destruction of gang life to a purposeful and honorable way of living. He served 22 years before he was released in May 2012 at the age of 43. Mr. Wiley has now been working for many years to end gang and youth violence through his program development, writing, and intervention.
Mr. Wiley also has assisted several reentry start-up organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area, was a former Commissioner on the Human Relations Commission of the City of Union City, and sat on Alameda County reentry panels and advisory boards. He is an author and has gained an AA Degree in Small Business Management as well as earned a degree in Paralegal Studies. Additionally, Yusef-Andre Wiley is a certified speaker, trainer and life coach of the John Maxwell Team, an international certification program.
48 min