The Oaxaca Learning Center helps
underserved Oaxacan youth 
transform their lives and communities

"The young people who arrive in the Center can dream and can create new plans for their lives"

Jaasiel Quero, Director, Oaxaca Learning Center

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Oaxaca is one of the poorest states in Mexico and for many young people the life-choices

are very limited.  The Oaxaca Learning Center offers free support to low-income students

fourteen years and older to help them succeed academically and broaden their horizons. 
This Mexican non-profit is run by a team of staff and tutors from the same social class as the students - many are themselves graduates of the Center and act as

powerful role models and inspiration.  

THE TOLC PROGRAM

The Learning Center's aim is to help students realize their personal and leadership potential,

increase their academic skills and support them in finding the path they want to follow.
There are three component parts to this.

For more detail, visit the Learning Center's own website (in Spanish) or download the 2021 annual report.

Their advice, counselling, workshops and group dynamics allowed me to discover a new person in me.  They made me believe in myself and my potential.  They taught me that with discipline and perseverance, everything is possible.

Efraín Pérez
Degree in Nursing

My mother, with few resources, never believed I would be able to have a profession.  Now, after graduating, I've proved that there are no limits.  And, even better, that there are people willing to help you through the process..

Benito Méndez
Student

Friends of the Oaxaca Learning Center (FOLC) Board members

FOLC is a US-based non-profit.  The role of its volunteer Board is to raise funds and other support for the

Oaxaca Learning Center and to work strategically to determine how best to support it. 

Bob Anyon, President

Bob first came to Oaxaca in 2001 and has been coming regularly ever since.  In 2003 he met Gary Titus and started working with the then-emerging Learning Center. He believes strongly in the holistic approach to supporting youth and giving them the tools to realize their own future.

Susan Connor

Susan stumbled upon the Oaxaca Learning Center in Spring of 2007 and decided to spend the rest of her sabbatical leave time volunteering there. Thereafter she spent 6-8 weeks every year volunteering.  In 2014 she left her career teaching and litigating and moved to Oaxaca.  She now runs the B&B, serves on the Board, mentors students and is a daily witness to how the the Learning Center changes the lives of so many youth here.

Jaasiel Quero

Jaasiel is President of the Oaxaca Learning Center, which he founded alongside Gary Titus.  A former schoolteacher himself he had firsthand knowledge of the limitations of the public school system and how it was failing poor students and worked with Gary to devise a curriculum to address those shortcomings.

Viviana Ruíz

Viviana brings a wealth of experience in non-profits, most recently as Managing Director of Mexican non-profit, Fundación En Vía.  She is now focusing on her original profession of architecture, bringing her passion for community into her vision of how buildings can work. She believes young people should be seen from their strengths  

Mark Jacobs

Mark and his wife first visited Oaxaca in 1997 and came back at every opportunity. They volunteered at the Oaxaca Streetchildren Grassroots and then at the Oaxaca Learning Center.

A retired teacher who taught mostly Mexican immigrants at the high school level for twenty years, Mark loved teaching. He now lives full time in Oaxaca and is grateful for the opportunity to support the Center.