1400 Parkmoor Ave, Ste 240B, San Jose, CA 95126
information@razingthebar.org
Copyright © 2019 · All Rights Reserved · Razing The Bar
CONTACT US
1400 Parkmoor Avenue, Suite#240
San Jose, CA 95126
(669) 215-5310
information@razingthebar.org
04. Our People
About Us
Our People
Give Now
Many of the people who walk beside our young people have walked this road themselves. They know it from the inside, and they stay.
Leadership
Leading the work.
Dontae Lartigue
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Dontae Lartigue knows the road from the inside. A native of the Peninsula, he spent his first years in East Palo Alto, entered foster care at a very early age, and grew up in San José in shelters, group homes, and foster placements. Mentors invested in him along the way, and that changed everything.
Dontae earned his associate degree in Liberal Arts and Social and Behavioral Sciences from De Anza College and his bachelor’s degree in Psychology from San José State University. In 2017, he co-founded Razing the Bar on what his own road taught him: no one should have to walk it alone. He has served on the Santa Clara County Continuum of Care Board, the Board of Destination: Home, and Destination: Home’s Lived Experience Advisory Board.
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Brandy Wright, MNA
Chief Operating Officer
Brandy Wright joined Razing the Bar in June 2026 to build the structure that holds the work up: the systems, policies, and people that keep the homes open and the road clear.
She brings deep expertise in the HUD Continuum of Care Program, federal grants management, nonprofit financial accounting, and California employment and landlord-tenant law. At Razing the Bar, she leads operations, finance, human resources, and compliance, and built Razing the Bar University, the organization’s year-long training curriculum for its team.
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Community Mentors
Walking beside young people, every week.
Our Community Mentors meet with young people each week, helping them set and reach the goals they choose, from a first lease to a first paycheck.
Angelina “Lina” Rodriguez
Lead Community Mentor
Lina is a community advocate, organizer, and systems-impacted leader with more than a decade of experience supporting youth, families, and individuals navigating the child welfare and legal systems. Her work is rooted in her lived experience as a former foster youth and a deep commitment to healing, equity, and self-determination.
She brings relationship-centered, trauma-informed practice to her work, with experience building programs that center cultural identity, family reunification, and community-based healing. At Razing the Bar, she is dedicated to ensuring that those closest to the issues lead the work.
Carlos Yepez
Community Mentor
Carlos is a former foster youth whose journey to Razing the Bar is a testament to resilience, determination, and the power of giving back. Having lived the ups and downs of the foster care system, he understands firsthand the obstacles young people face.
As Razing the Bar’s longest-serving Community Mentor, Carlos channels that experience into walking beside young people every week, through mentorship, connection to resources, and showing up for the goals they choose.
Mike DiGino
Community Mentor
Mike brings powerful lived experience to his work, having navigated both the foster care and justice systems. He uses his journey as a bridge for authentic relationships, building trust with the young people he walks beside.
Known as a true man of the people, Mike was rooted in community long before he became a mentor: showing up, giving back, and leading with consistency and care. At Razing the Bar, he helps young people rewrite their narratives and reach their full potential.
Alondra Orozco-Contreras
Community Mentor
Alondra earned her bachelor’s degree in Legal Studies from UC Santa Cruz. Her passion for advocacy and hands-on service led her to Razing the Bar, where she draws on her own lived experience to build the kind of connection with young people that others have failed to make.
She believes there is no better way to invest her time than walking beside young people as they get back on track.
Operations and Life Skills
Keeping the homes open and the table full.
Raymond Lopez
Operations Coordinator
Raymond keeps Razing the Bar’s homes running day to day and coordinates our weekly community food market, where young people come together around a full table.
Tony Louangprasert
Culinary and Life Skills Instructor
Tony leads our hands-on cooking workshops, teaching the everyday skills of feeding yourself and running a home. He holds food handler and food handler manager certifications.
Meet our Board of Directors.
The volunteer leaders who govern Razing the Bar and hold us accountable.
Our Approach
See how our team works.
Developmental and near-peer relationships, and why they come after a home.
Join Us
Want to walk beside them?
We’re always looking for people who show up and stay, on our team or as volunteers.
Join Our Team
Volunteer
Razing the Bar, Inc. · 1400 Parkmoor Avenue, Suite 240B, San José, CA 95126 · A California nonprofit public benefit corporation and 501(c)(3) public charity · EIN 80-0441705 · Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.