Sharing Talents Brings Many Rewards

With a wide array of interests and a desire to help others, Ray De Leon has a rewarding life.

"I get satisfaction, because what I give are the talents given to me to share with others," he said.

When he moved to Aliso Viejo in 1996, De Leon saw an opportunity to be involved in the history of the community.

“I went with Bill Phillips, Carmen [Cave] and John Stewart to the people who were going to make the decision about it [Aliso Viejo] becoming a city. I took the time off to participate. To be a part of that process, that was exciting,” De Leon said.

De Leon is now treasurer for the Aliso Viejo Community Association board. Previously he served on the Master Architectural Committee for two years and was a member of the events committee for AVCA for 11 years.

De Leon also volunteers as a photographer for AVCA and the City of Aliso Viejo. He enjoys the variety of photographic opportunities in the community. On Sept. 8 he took pictures of Hullabaloo, the children’s concert in Grand Park.

For two years, he was a photographer for the Orange County Gladiators, a minor league professional basketball team based in Aliso Viejo. He said “it was not only fun, but I was recording history.”

Helping others has also played an important part in De Leon’s career.  As a history major at California State University Long Beach, he had planned on simply teaching. Instead, he became an advisor for the Educational Opportunity Program, which helps students who do not meet the normal requirements for admission.

“I was working with kids who really needed assistance to get into the university,” he said. “Being in that position was really eye-opening.”

De Leon came from a similar economic background as the inner-city kids he was helping.

Many parents of children in EOP were at the poverty level even though they worked two or three jobs. De Leon was impressed that they always wanted to talk about their children.

“It was their dedication to their children that really got me,” he said.  “It was what my mother would have done. My mother was the room mom and the Cub Scout leader. She was always there for us, in spite of the fact that she was always working.”

By helping the students in EOP, De Leon said he was making the kind of difference that he wanted to make in teaching.

After earning a master’s degree in education at CSULB, he completed a Ph.D in education at Claremont Graduate School, now known as Claremont Graduate University.

As director of the Office of Program Review since 1994, he assesses programs within the division of student services at CSULB.

Recently, De Leon ran into a former EOP student who said, “You advised me about my writing and reading skills, and I always wanted to thank you.”

“When you encounter those kinds of moments, it's really great,” De Leon said.