Pasos for Oak Cliff, a non-profit, is set up by Jesse Acosta, a high school teacher, and Alejandra Zendejas, a math tutor. We both consider ourselves sneakerheads.
As sneakerhead educators and members of the community, we are fully aware that parents and guardians struggle to supply some basic necessities for their children - this is especially true when it comes to shoes.
As a result, we decided to turn our LOVE for sneakers into a proactive start up - Pasos for Oak Cliff. The goal of Pasos for Oak Cliff is to give students new shoes. The lack of good quality shoes leads to discomfort, ridicule, bullying, and isolation. We can prevent that from happening, but we cannot do it alone, we need YOUR SUPPORT.
Jesse Acosta
Co-Founder
COO/ Executive Director
Jesse Acosta was born in Dallas, Texas, and raised in the neighborhood of Oak Cliff. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2017 with a double major in Radio-Television-Film BS and History BA with a minor in Government. His passion for education led him to join Teach For America in 2018 and to serve as Deputy Director for Youth for North Texas LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) District 3 from 2020-2021. Currently, he teaches at his alma mater Justin F. Kimball High School and is Executive Director of Pasos for Oak Cliff, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit fighting educational inequities, which he co-founded in August of 2020.
Q: What are is your favorite pair of shoes?
"The Air Jordan 1 Spiderman edition is one of my favorite sneakers. Even since I saw the original Spiderman movie (with Tobey Maguire) I fell in love with Spiderman and I wanted to be Spiderman to help people. I feel like I'm stepping into the role of Spiderman with Pasos." - Jesse A.
