Our Staff
Reza Harris, Cofounder
Reza is an artist and educator who was born in raised in San Francisco. Beginning in high school as a client for at-risk youth programs, he has been working for various community-based organizations for over a decade. In addition to his professional experience as a counselor, case manager, educator, and program leader, he has been performing and releasing hip-hop music and producing graffiti art under his stage name “Dregs One” to international underground acclaim. A native of SF’s Lakeview neighborhood, he has established himself as a young leader of his community from his extensive work in the Tenderloin and Mission while showcasing his talent in the local hip-hop scene. In 2015, he completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Africana Studies at San Francisco State University, while also minoring in Race and Resistance Studies. In addition to founding 5 Elements, Reza plans to apply for a dual law and education graduate program to gain even more resources to supplement his artistic and professional expertise in community work.
Juana Teresa Tello, Cofounder
Juana is a first-generation Xicana born and raised in San Francisco. As an organizer, educator, skill development trainer inside and outside of public schools, Juana has developed youth leadership across Bay Area communities for over a decade. She has committed her time to the conscious development of young leaders to advocate for justice and solidarity on all fronts. In 2010, she campaigned to institutionalize Ethnic Studies classes in SFUSD as a foundation to politicize students on resistance and movement history. Through these classes, Juana has been actively creating a school-to-community pathway that involves students in community campaigns. Her organizational experience includes developing community leadership through Causa Justa, POWER, SOUL, and the Watsonville Brown Berets on a wide variety of issues. In 2008, she graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a B.A. in Latin American and Latino Studies and Education where she created programs that bridged the university with local communities and low-income first-generation students of color. In Fall of 2017, Juana will pursue a Masters in Public Health from San Francisco State University for professional expertise to advance the development of this project.
Youth Leadership Team
Our co-founders’ success has been made possible thanks to the collective investment in our leadership by youth programs that helped us develop positive identities through cultural, creative and political outlets. Through 5 Elements our dream is to pay forward the guidance that was given to us, by creating holistic and empowering programs for the next generation of youth leaders.
As young adults who have served youth in our communities for more than a decade, we have collectively cultivated a support team of transitional-aged mentors for our current students in SFUSD and beyond. Through long-term sustained relationships and leadership development they now serve as a founding youth leadership team that co-create, and co-facilitate 5 Elements programs. We give a special acknowledgement to Violeta Vasquez (left), and Lorren Dangerfield (center), for investing in this growing collective dream.