Jonathan Garcia just gets shit done. He has made a life of putting himself in places of power and influence, at times at great cost to his sanity and humanity. As an undergrad and graduate student at APU, he forged his identity as a co-founder of LASA (Latin American Student Association), as a leader in student government, and as a member of the administration itself. That put him at the table with rich, conservative, bigoted people, but Jonathan worked to form relationships and influenced their views. The significance of the fact that he got the president of the school at the time, Jon Wallace, to change his views on immigration can't be overstated. APU is a place where hispanic students can go with support and financial aid, regardless of citizenship status. Real change as a result of Jonathan and LASA.

For people like me, I have only disgust and hurt when I think of APU's administration and board of trustees. I was never given the benefit of the doubt, and I was listed as a "bad" or "dangerous" professor simply because I dared talk about social justice, racism, sexuality, and identity in my classes. But Jonathan reminds me that the people I hate are, in fact, people. He gave them the chance to see him and rethink their views. He's a goddamn hero.

Jonathan is currently the Chief of Staff at Portland Public Schools. He has worked in education at several huge school districts, and he was named by Forbes as one of their 30 Under 30 in Education.

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Music in this episode by Shin Kawasaki and Wingo Shackleford, Elephants with Guns, Azeem Kahn, and Scott Okamoto.