We recently connected with Lizette Valles and have shared our conversation below.

Lizette , thanks for joining us. We are excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 

During the spring of 2020, I could not have anticipated the educational renaissance that was about to flood into our lives. However, I recognized the need to maintain some type of normalcy with my high school students where mental health, felt safety, and connection were the priority. At the same time, my career and personal life were beginning to intersect, and I started homeschooling my son shortly afterwards. I launched Compass Educators: A Holistic Educational Services Center in June 2020 and Ellemercito Academy, a nonprofit project and place-based microschool in Los Angeles, a year later. I was a teacher and librarian turned homeschooling mom and social entrepreneur. I envisioned a smaller, personalized learning environment where the doors were ripped off the classroom and the whole world became our school. I needed to unlearn much of what I had been taught and realized that returning back to a simpler, uncluttered form of education was what I had unknowingly been preparing for all along.

Lizette , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Lizette Valles, and I’m the founder of Compass Educators: A Holistic Educational Services Center and Ellemercito Academy, a nonprofit project and place-based microschool in Los Angeles. I began my career as a middle school English teacher, and what I’m most proud of is creating safe spaces where students can learn in community, feeling supported and valued. With a Master’s in Education and a deep-rooted faith, I’m driven by a mission to do good in the world by fostering environments that nurture critical thinking, growth mindsets, and deep empathy. As the daughter of a single immigrant mother from Mexico and a first-generation college graduate, I am passionate about ensuring that marginalized and underrepresented students have access to transformative educational experiences.

For over 17 years, my work in education has taken many forms. I’ve taught middle and high school English, served as a K-12 librarian, published a bilingual children’s book, and launched alternative education programs to support families. During the pandemic, I organized the largest free virtual summer camp in the U.S., helping families navigate an uncertain time. In 2020, I founded Compass Educators, which offers a range of services including academic coaching, tutoring, college admissions process assistance, workforce preparation, homeschool support, and virtual classes. In 2021, I launched Ellemercito Academy, which provides an in-person homeschool hybrid program, academic enrichment, an after-school club, a community membership program, field trips, and a variety of workshops ranging from culinary arts to environmental science and therapeutic ceramics.

What sets me apart is my commitment to reimagining education beyond conventional models. I believe that students should learn authentically, in environments that are intentionally designed, healing, and filled with opportunities for exploration. My vision is for students to have the freedom to wonder, explore, and simply be, while feeling safe, seen, heard, and understood. I see students not just as learners but as future creators, explorers, and world changers. My goal is to prepare them to dream big and take action, with school, home, and community working together to support them.

As the former California and Spanish-speaking Field Coordinator with a national nonprofit, I’ve had the privilege of growing the microschooling ecosystem in California. Our learning community has been honored to receive the VELA Next Step Grant and Getting Smart’s first-ever Learning Innovation Fund Grant. I’m part of the inaugural cohort of ASU Prep’s Microschool Entrepreneur Fellowship and my work has been featured at Harvard’s Emerging School Models Conference, The Cato Institute, 74 Million, The Future of Education, Voyage LA, Rebel Educator, the LiberatEd podcast, and more.

As a Latina founder, speaker, facilitator, and school choice advocate, I view these recognitions as opportunities to further impact the educational landscape, inspire others in the field, and contribute to a future where every student has access to innovative, inspiring, and meaningful learning experiences. Grounded in my faith and shaped by my experiences as a generational cycle breaker and foster adoptive mom, I’m here to empower students, families, and communities to reimagine education in ways that truly meet their needs.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One of the most important lessons I had to unlearn was that education had to follow a rigid, one-size-fits-all model confined to conventional classrooms and standardized tests. Initially, I thought this was the only path to academic success. However, through my many interactions with students, I saw them flourish when there was genuine connection and trust. This helped me realize that learning could be fluid, student-centered, and driven by curiosity and real-world experiences. I now understand that one size fits none.

I also had to unlearn the idea that, as a social entrepreneur, I needed to have everything figured out before starting to effect change. Embracing these shifts allowed me to adopt a more holistic, healing-centered approach, creating transformative learning experiences where students thrive in a supportive, flexible, and low-stress environment. This atmosphere frees everyone—students, educators, and families alike—to be the people they were created to be, without imposing expectations or views onto them that aren’t their own. They can truly be themselves.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Reimagining education is hard and holy work. There are days when it feels like everything is an experiment, and the temptation to return to the status quo is real. I’ve been there, wondering if it’s worth it, thinking about how easy it would be to slip back into what was familiar, even if it wasn’t fulfilling. At least it was predictable, right?

But I know that the predictable place is exactly what I’m breaking free from. The work I’ve embarked on isn’t just about educating—it’s about breaking generational cycles. I aim to be a trailblazer, redefining what education can be and where it can happen. I’m inspired by the thousands of microschool founders who have met in warehouses, churches, homes, community centers, and parks—places you wouldn’t typically think of as classrooms. In the process, my students are co-creating their educational journeys and playing a huge role in transforming how learning is experienced.

I remember when I first started, surrounded by everything but what you’d expect in a classroom. It wasn’t ideal, but it was a start. I was creating something different, something magical, in a space that wasn’t designed for it. That’s what resilience looks like. It’s not about having everything perfectly laid out; it’s about seeing past what’s in front of you and pushing forward anyway.

There were times I questioned it all. I remember the exhaustion, the frustration of battling systems that seemed immovable. But I also remember the moments that made it all worth it—the unearthed joy of a child when they made a discovery on their own, the pride they felt when they accomplished something they didn’t think was possible. Those moments are what keep me going.

I connect, I move past my fears, and I hope to inspire the next generation to dream big and take action. I don’t settle for standardized ways of being, and I never will. I wasn’t meant to fit any mold, and that’s what makes my work so powerful. What I’m doing is worth every sleepless night, every tough decision, and every step into the unknown.

So when those days come—and they will—I don’t give in. I have a vision that these kids need. I have a vision that this world needs. And I will run with it because I believe in the beautiful work I’m doing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ellemercito.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellemercito_academy
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ellemercitoacademy/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizette-valles/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@EllemercitoAcademy

Image Credits

Lizette Valles