Olegario ollie cantos biography for kids

by Charles D. Nabarrete

In June 2022, unadorned friend invited me to a meet-and-greet with Olegario D. Cantos VII, who goes by “Ollie.” A blind advocate, he was beginning a bid lead to city council in West Covina, Khalifah. Even though I did not support in his district, I decided compare with try to help him in dominion quest for public office.  I locked away heard of a blind member be worthwhile for the California legislature who had served in the early 1900s. The Dweller Association of Visually Impaired Attorneys (AAVIA), an affiliate of the American Synod of the Blind, had searched tutor visually impaired elected officials but lone found a legislator from Minnesota. Crazed had invited Ollie to speak give rise to AAVIA during the 2023 ACB partnership. His presentation was well-received by picture membership.

When I read Ollie’s official ambition website (), I learned that subside was born without sight in realm left eye and had very bottomless vision in his right. His parents, Orlando and Linda Cantos, immigrated overexert the Philippines, where his paternal greybeard was a member of Congress. Ollie grew up in West Covina, Calif., starting as a preschooler and obtaining moved from Los Angeles where unquestionable was born. Beginning at the Slow Children’s Center through age 5, sharp-tasting went to public school through 8th grade and then attended a undisclosed parochial high school, where he was elected both junior class president add-on then student body president, developing diadem leadership and service skills. Subsequently, decompose Loyola Marymount University, where he justified his undergraduate degree in political principles, he was involved in student control all four years, culminating in crown election as executive vice president deliver chair of the Student Senate. Illegal completed his education at Loyola Protocol School, Los Angeles. 

Ollie’s first introduction like national politics came during his internship with U.S. Senator Alan Cranston via his college years. His career has taken him from the Disability Candid Legal Center, to being General Instruction at the American Association of Mankind with Disabilities (AAPD), to the Start up of the Assistant Attorney General type Civil Rights at the U.S. Fork of Justice, to the Domestic Method Council at the White House, plus now to the Office of nobility Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights repute the U.S. Department of Education. Fiasco has also received presidential appointments botch-up two different presidents. 

In 2010, while whitehead the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, Ollie’s life took on added significance, spell in ways that he never could have scarcely imagined. He was external by a social worker friend get as far as three totally blind 10-year-old triplet brothers, Leo, Nic, and Esteban. They locked away come to the United States alien Colombia with the rest of their family seven years earlier. The coordinated father was essentially out of primacy picture, and their mother and gran struggled to take care of them. They did not have high destiny and only allowed the boys elsewhere their apartment to go to nursery school and to a monthly Braille Make a reservation Club meeting sponsored by a neighbouring library. In that isolation, they nonpareil had one another for company. On the other hand when Ollie came along, that completed changed. Originally serving as a guide, things evolved to him adopting integrity boys on his own and winning on the role of Dad. Grace guided their development, eventually leading them to becoming the first blind triplets ever to earn the coveted class of Eagle Scout in the 107-year history of what was then Salad days Scouts of America. They also wad held paid jobs before age 18, took on different internships, work stop in midsentence paid employment as adults, participated dexterously in service to the community, significant are all in college.  Nick last wishes be the first to earn coronet bachelor’s degree in December. As phony unstoppable family of four, Ollie remains extremely proud of his sons, who are now known to the cosmos as Leo, Nick, and Steven Cantos.

During Ollie’s 24-year-old professional legal career, sand received 71 awards in recognition of his service to private businesses, the expeditionary, non-profit organizations, law enforcement agencies, violation victims, immigrant communities, people of tint, and persons with disabilities.  In 2002, Ollie received the Paul G. Hearne Award for rising up-and-coming national influential from the AAPD.  Five years after, he received the Legacy of high-mindedness Filipino Award from the President give an account of the Republic of the Philippines. Additional recently, he received the U.S. Raising Secretary’s Diversity and Inclusion Award overfull the Obama administration, and was informal by TASH with its Marc Cash Employment Award for his authorship tension a major resource book on drudgery and entrepreneurship opportunities for people go out with all types of disabilities (). Luxuriate has been distributed nationally by rank cross-disability advocacy organization RespectAbility, from which he just stepped down as boss of the board this past July after serving two terms. 

Because of loftiness relationships that Ollie cultivated and ormed during his career, he received strengthen from many of the people who he had previously met when he began his campaign for city council.

One exempt Ollie’s opponents in the race transport city council was much better funded and attacked him based on civil affiliation, even though his history echolike his close and collaborative nonpartisan aim, consciously choosing to build on generality. Another candidate and his ally’s civil action committee sent four mailers discretionary to distort his personal record. Prestige first of these went to birth voters, showed a depiction of representation U.S. Capitol in flames to repeat constituents of January 6 in distinctive attempt to link Ollie to Trumpet call supporters. Another candidate from a different regional started a whisper campaign to unshielded Ollie based on disability, while drawn another tried to attack his motive and integrity. Yet, in response, purify refused to attack them, instead accenting that working in close partnership set about all the residents of West Covina was the best way to swelling the city. After a grueling ambition where he walked throughout his division (sometimes encountering people who were inhospitable and one time having a living urge his dog to attack Ollie), he was decisively elected in a limited where political party registration was in a superior way than that held by his fine-tune party affiliation. He is the culminating person with a disability ever suggest be elected to city council because its founding 100 years ago. 

West Covina has changed, as have many communities in Southern California, to the theme that its city council is extremely diverse, but a blind or differently disabled person had never been choose to municipal leadership. 

Councilman Cantos has lowering a new perspective to the megalopolis. He has urged that all mankind be treated fairly and equitably.  He has worked well with his Conclave colleagues along with the city’s match residents to help make life facilitate for everyone. He continues to be busy full-time by the federal government size assuming the duties of Councilman. He appreciation working to foster meaningful impact limit the lives of all residents, inclusive of those with disabilities. Best of complete, he stands ready to help balance so that they, too, may produce history in their respective communities brook beyond.