Orlando Perez

Perez means “break through,” and Orlando Perez has chosen to walk in his identity as a man who chooses to break through barriers set before him.  As he grew up, Orlando saw three generations of his family incarcerated for selling drugs. But through his mother’s prayers, he was able to break through these cycles and was the first in his family to go to college. At the University of Rhode Island, he began a Bible study for his football teammates. It spread to impact the rest of his college’s athletic community, and in 2008, an Athletes InterVarsity chapter was started. Since college, Orlando has worked to help break the cycle of the school-prison pipeline.