Born and raised in the projects, Laura Rizo’s passions and research focus on overcoming poverty, mental illness, an identity crisis, and a lack of self-love has reached the hearts of youth and adults. As a classroom teacher, her philosophy of education was always to teach life before content. As a school counselor, she aims to develop connections with students that go beyond academics. She has been a youth mentor for over 20 years for various organizations including Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Extreme Youth Leadership, Project MALES, Teens in the Driver Seat, AVID, and others in Texas. She received 3 consecutive awards for Texas Sponsor of the Year for Texas Teens in the Driver Seat, Bilingual Teacher of the Year for her former district, and AVID Coordinator for a National Demonstration School. Dr. Rizo earned her doctorate from National University’s School of Education, focusing on Social-Emotional Learning.