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Volunteers of the Month: December 2016

From 826LA in Echo Park: Brad Kaiserman, born and raised in Los Angeles, is a criminal defense and appeals attorney. He obtained his undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley, where he created his own major called The Nature and Meaning of Truth. He then returned to Los Angeles for law school at USC. After spending several years at a criminal defense firm following law school, Brad opened up his own practice in 2015.

The flexibility of running his own practice allowed Brad to finally volunteer with 826LA, an organization he had heard great things about from a friend. Starting out just volunteering with TNT, Brad had such an awesome time that he then volunteered with ELL Camp over the summer and now volunteers weekly with both TNT and AST.

Most importantly, Brad won third place for dancing at the 826LA benefit Let’s Do the Time Warp (Again!)

From 826LA in Mar VistaChristina Simon is a mom, writer animal lover, coffee drinker and tennis player living in Los Angeles with her husband, two teenagers and their rescued Pitbull. Christina learned about 826LA after attending a literary reading at Roar Shack. She enjoys helping students write their college essays and last year she worked on the Young Author’s Book Project and the Dorsey High School student newspaper.

Christina writes about parenting, mixed-race identity, L.A. private school admissions, financial aid and diversity in her book and on her blog, which have been featured on NPR, Los Angeles Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, The Daily Beast, Town and Country, The Huffington Post, Quartz and Business Insider and other publications. Christina’s essays have appeared in Salon, Angeles Flight Literary West, L.A. Parent, The Mother Company and XoJane. Christina holds a B.A. from UC Berkeley and an M.A. in Urban Planning from UCLA. She is a former staffer for L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas when he served on the L.A. City Council.

From 826LA at Manual Arts: Chelsea Rivera is equal parts gypsy and mermaid. She feels most alive when she’s traveling the world and chatting up the person sitting next to her on the bus, train, or plane. Helping the students of Manual Arts write their personal statements is her favorite volunteer project at 826LA, as it allows her to really get to know the stories of today’s youth (without the expensive airline fees).

She hails from both Miami and New Orleans (with brief stops in France, Australia, and NYC). Chelsea thoroughly enjoys being in nature, especially when it involves climbing very tall mountains or harnessing her mermaid powers in the ocean. When she’s not running around with the trees or working with children, Chelsea spends her spare time exploring the city, cooking, doing yoga, running, and reading.

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