Xavier Morales

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) Manager

Xavier Morales was born in Philadelphia, PA to Filipino immigrants in the late seventies. Several years later his two sisters were born. Xavier’s family spent a couple of years in New Jersey where he had a childhood of fenceless backyards, riding bikes in the forests and playing basketball in the streets. Then in 1989, his family moved to Vallejo where there may have been more fences and less trees, but where there were more people who looked like him and his family. This is probably why they would spend the next 33 years here. For college, Xavier went to the University of California, Santa Barbara and got his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. After graduating, he spent some time in Los Angeles working in the HIV/AIDS field doing technical assistance and capacity building. It was then that Xavier realized that his bleeding heart would probably never stop bleeding, so he then went to the University of California, Berkeley to get his Master in Social Work. Since then, Xavier has worked in a variety of capacities as a social worker, grant writer/fund development, evaluation consultant, research and data analyst, and now as a DEI manager.

Being Filipino, Xavier was raised Catholic but have long stopped practicing. He doesn’t have a specific spiritual practice, but the values around interconnectedness of all things live strongly in him, as manifested in his decision to decrease his carbon footprint by living in a tiny home. Xavier identifies as trans, and is currently engaged to a cisgender Vietnamese woman who lives in the tiny home next to mine. He has 5 nieces and nephews that he adores, and 2 dogs named Max and Junior that make living in a tiny home "not boring" to say the least. Xavier’s interests tend to shift, but currently he enjoys mountain biking and candle making in his free time. He greatly enjoys time alone or as his partner would say, introverting. This includes reading, writing, traveling solo, and spending a shameful amount of time watching TV and YouTube videos.

What inspires you to do this work?

As DEI Manager, I want DCYF to be a great place to work for not only my colleagues, but also the youth in our funded programs. I want DCYF to be the kind of place that youth want to work at because they know they will belong, they will be seen and their contributions will be respected.

DCYF’s tagline is “Making San Francisco a Great Place to Grow Up.” Do you believe this? Tell us why.

San Francisco's physical landscape can't be beat. The Pacific Ocean on one side, the Bay on the other. Parks throughout, trees peeping through that mystical fog and there are rolling hills for days. The jagged cliffs can take you to a different world, even a different era. Who wouldn't want to grow up in a place like this? Yet, there are major disparities in health, educational, economic outcomes for BIPOC communities. And perhaps we haven't done enough to honor the Ramaytush Ohlone for their millennia of stewardship of this land. This sort of effort can have profoundly transformative effects on the spirit of a place. So I think there are still lots of work to be done. I also think the children, youth and families of San Francisco are in good hands. There are a lot of people here that care. Who work day in and day out to solve these hugely, complex problems. The problem solving may not always be efficient and the solutions don't always work, but at least there are people who try every day. Because that's just how San Francisco is.

Is there a song or anthem that inspires your grind and motivates you to serve our communities?

“Wavin’ Flag” by K’naan.