Abel Gonzalez-Jimenez

Founder 1962

Mr. Gonzalez arrived from Mexico at the age of 23, with only $200 in his pocket and the belief that San Francisco was “A magical Place where anyone could start again.” He believed that education was a key ingredient for immigrant communities. As a rank-and-file member of the Laborer’s Local Union 261, he pursued his vision of equal education for immigrants and took on a leadership role in unifying his fellow workers by founding The Central Social Obrero & later Mission Language and Vocational School (MLVS). Central Social Obrero, an organization of immigrant workers, became a local voice of immigrant workers and a local voice in the labor community and the San Francisco Latino community at large.