Angeles Echols

Biography of Angeles Echols

“Education forms a common mind, when the twig is bent, the tree inclines.” That quotation emanates from the Deep South, from an era when African-Americans were raised to value education and pass it on with reverence. Angeles Echols continues to honor this tradition. For more than 20 years, this native of Memphis, Tennessee has been imparting knowledge to students of all nationalities and walks of life; put simply, she’s ‘educating young minds’ and making sure those twigs grow straight, tall and strong. What began in her one-room apartment with two children and only $50.00 has blossomed into a multi-faceted and diverse organization that has touched the lives of thousands of students in grades K-12 and their parents. School Districts and teachers are being supported, children are experiencing higher levels of self-esteem and parents are being empowered.

Providing home study, after-school tutorial, SAT/ACT prep, and $6,000-$10,000 in college scholarships each year for EYM high-school graduates, Ms. Echols and her staff are determined to support, nurture and guide as many inner-city students as her space and staff will allow. Ms. Echols holds a Bachelors Degree in Psychology, Emphasis in Child Development and Human Behavioral Psychology from Cornell University and completed a one-year graduate program at Cornell in Arts and Sciences. She has worked as an instructor, tutor, counselor, and teacher, at Harvard’s Upward Bound Program, Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, Trinity Lutheran School in LA, Holy Name’s Multi-Purpose Center in Memphis, and at Alexander Berger Junior High School #139 in the Bronx, to name a few. She is presently preparing for a PhD program in Education and Child Development and Human Behavior.

Angeles has been honored by many groups and organizations. In 2006 she received Upsilon Deltas Recognition of Excellence in Academic Merit. In 2003, she was selected to become a member of the Presidents Council of Cornell Women and selected Outstanding Cornell Alumni in Education. She was recently awarded KTLA’s (Channel 5) “Unsung Heroes Award”, aired Saturday February 7, 2004. In 2003-2006 she received Commendations and Proclamations from the County of Los Angeles, City of Inglewood, California State Assembly’s Office, Mayor’s Office and the 33rd Congressional District and many others. She received the Minorities in Business Magazine’s 2003 PRISM Award in Education and in Oct. 2006 was featured in the Los Angeles Times Sunday Metro section. ACT 1’s Angel of Education Award, Crenshaw Christian Center’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Oscar Joel Bryant’s Community Humanitarian Award, and the Jackie Robinson and Unity Way’s Community Service Awards are just a few of the many recognitions that adorn the walls of EYM.

At the end of the day, Angeles Echols is one of those rare individuals who is excited not by the many accolades, but rather, the academic and emotional success of her students. EYM students are now graduating from Stanford, Berkeley, Spelman, Morehouse, Duke, Xavier, Florida A&M, and Syracuse University to name a few. Ms. Echols is driven by an unquenchable thirst for knowledge that inspires her students and empowers her parents, molding urban youth, one graduate at a time.

Her five year plan is to open EYM sites statewide. In that she is striving to save a generation one graduate at a time, this plan, greatly needed and certain to become a reality, will be of immeasurable value to countless more needy and deserving inner-city children.