Leroy was born in Tamaulipas, Mexico, and is the second oldest of his siblings. He spent most of his teenage years in the Texas foster care system, around five years total.
Leroy earned master’s degrees in Educational Technology and Public Affairs at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV).
Leroy has 10 years of leadership, advocacy, and consulting experience on local, state, and federal levels, and has made it a priority to encourage and facilitate youth and young adult engagement at every level. He has collaborated with numerous Texas organizations, including the Supreme Court of Texas Children’s Commission Statewide Collaborative on Trauma-Informed Care Working Group, the Texas Permanency Outcomes Project (TXPOP), DFPS workgroups and conferences, the Texas Bar Continuing Legal Education (Texas BAR CLE), and the Coalition for Empowering Children and Families.
Leroy has received internship and fellowship opportunities, such as FosterClub’s Outstanding Young Leaders Program Fellowship (2016), Congressional Foster Youth Shadow Program in Washington, D.C. (2016), and received nationally recognized awards, including the Certificate and Letter of Special Congressional Commendation (2016) and another Certificate of Special Congressional Commendation as a participant of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth 2022 Shadow Day Program.
Leroy currently serves as a Project Manager for the state’s child welfare member-based provider organization where he supports youth voice and engagement in all 11 regions of the state.
Leroy continues serving as a Senior National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) Reviewer/Specialist, a federal consulting role with JBS International Inc., a sub-contractor of the Children’s Bureau an office of the United States Administration for Children and Families. In this role, he takes part in annual trainings and was a federal team member on the District of Columbia NYTD Review in 2018. He also performed in an award-winning training video, which continues to be used to train new NYTD Reviewers on how to conduct focus groups with young people in a safe and meaningful way. Leroy has also co-designed materials to assist the states in administering the NYTD survey. He currently serves as the Senior NYTD Reviewer for the 2024 Colorado federal NYTD Review.
Most recently, Leroy was a full-time Project Coordinator II at JBS under the Child Welfare Reviews Project. In this role, he was responsible for and served as the main point of contact for all logistical and planning activities. He provided logistical support to the Children’s Bureau Regional and Central office staff, individual states, contract staff, and JBS staff to ensure successful planning and completion of the federally mandated state-by-state Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs).
Leroy’s passion is for giving back to and uplifting the voices of those with lived experience.