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.
Board of Directors / Officers
Jesse Acosta
Founder / Board of Director / President
Jesse Acosta was born in Dallas, Texas, but 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. From 2017-2018, he worked with Reading Partners as a Americorps Literacy Lead. He's a Teach For America 2018 alum and has been teaching to at his alma mater Justin F. Kimball High School since then. Currently, Jesse serves as Deputy Director for Youth for North Texas LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) District 3 for the 2020-2021 year and founded Pasos for Oak Cliff in August of 2020.
Q: What are their favorite 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.
Alejandra Zendejas
Founder / Board of Director / Treasurer
Alejandra Zendejas was born in Leon, Guanajuato Mexico but raised in Dallas (Oak Cliff), Texas. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Mathematics and a Business Foundations Certificate in 2017. In her last year at UT, she presided as president of Longhorn LULAC. After graduating, Alejandra returned to Dallas and became a consultant under It’s Not Complicated (INC) Tutoring for all levels of math and test prep. Alejandra has served as Director of North Texas LULAC District 3 from 2019-2020. She helped with the founding of Pasos for Oak Cliff.
Q: What are their favorite shoes?
"The Air Jordan 1 Satin Black Toe are one of my favorites not only because my partner gifted them to me but I love how basic yet bold they are. My style is very plain but I try making up for that with my shoes. Even when I had to wear uniform in school I tried to wear shoes that stood out. I hope I can help other students feel that confidence & excitement I get from my shoes." - Alejandra Z.
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Juan R. Olivo
Board of Director / Secretary
Juan R. Olivo was born in Dallas and raised in the Old East Dallas neighborhood of the city. A Skyline High School graduate, Juan graduated El Centro College’s paralegal studies program and is in his final semester at the University of Texas at Dallas. Since October of 2019, he’s served as Mayor Johnson’s appointee to the Community Police Oversight Board. He holds a firm belief that it’s critical to meet the basic needs of students; and Pasos for Oak Cliff strides to fulfill these needs.
Q: What are their favorite shoes?
“Air Forces were the shoes to have growing up. I remember watching Nelly’s music video to “Air Force Ones” and would beg my mom to buy a pair as a kid. It’s simply a classic shoe that doesn’t go out of style, no matter the color way.” - Juan O.
Kyle Tull
Executive Art Director
Kyle Tull was born in Surrey, British Columbia and raised in North Delta, a suburb of Vancouver, Canada. He enrolled at Think Tank Training Centre in 2016 to study all facets of 3D Art, choosing to specialize in 3D Animation. However, after graduating he realized his true calling as a cartoonist and 2D Animator. For the last few years he’s been working and helping different brands and businesses with art design in all aspects. He’s currenrly working on building his own production company and on his own animated series "Sword & Staff.". He’s
excited to help bring Pasos’ artistic vision alive.
