The Student Equity Center invites a speaker each month to talk to Mt. SAC students.

These are the experiences of April’s Student Equity Speaker, Shirley Torres, Chief Program Officer for Homeboy Industries, the largest gang rehabilitation program and therapeutic community in the country.

She grew up in South Los Angeles surrounded by gangs and violence.

She didn’t know anyone who chose what they did for a living, let alone who went to college.

Shirley felt spiritually empowered by previous generations to find her purpose.

Founder and director of Homeboy Industries, Father Greg Boyle, took Shirley under his wing and explained to her that she carried a flashlight.

It is Shirley’s’ and Homeboy Industustries’ mission to provide an invitation to gang members to stop chasing death and honor their lives.

Shirley is the human flashlight, empowering past and present generations and shining a light on their future.

Now, Mt. SAC has honored Shirley as the 2024 Alumna of the Year.

The human flashlight that is Shirley Torres, worked toward brightening her flashlight’s beacon and showing others how any inclination of hope is better than staying in darkness.