Dominique Waltower has combined years of education, professional and personal life experiences to become a powerful speaker. He’s able to address a wide range of topics and audiences, bringing a level of authenticity that is rare. Dominique speaks with an impressive level of depth and his primary goal is to INSPIRE PERSPECTIVE.

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After completing his degree in Sociology, Dominique began work as a group home counselor. In this capacity, he supervised foster care as well as probation youth. He ran groups, taught life skills and behavior modification, conducted one-on-one counseling, and was responsible for following through with all court-ordered appointments. The youth he encountered in this early professional experience inspired him to be the best counselor that he could be.   He found that he was well equipped and able to connect with atrisk  individuals and wanted to explore other ways to make an impact.

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Dominique later worked with probation youth who were tackling substance abuse at the Tarzana Treatment Center. There, his primary role was working with young people to confront their addiction and the resulting negative impacts on their families and schooling.

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This work lead to a role as a case manager for a Gang Intervention /Intensive Aftercare  probation contract. He worked with a caseload of 60 incarcerated youth at Camp Munz and Camp Mendenhall in Los Angeles County. He led life skills groups with incarcerated young adults and continued to work closely with them once released, assisting them with school, employment, and adhering to probation conditions.

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Dominique then spent five years working as an Emergency Response Social Worker for Los Angeles County. He took great pride in being the family’s first point of contact with Child and Family Services, an experience that can be difficult and traumatic.  He worked hard to change the public's negative view of social workers by treating families with respect and dignity, no matter the circumstance. 

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Upon relocating to San Diego, Dominique spent five years as a Dropout Prevention Mentor San Diego Unified School District.  Dominique’s caseload included students from seven different high schools who were at-risk for academic failure.  He utilized the Check and Connect Model, which relied heavily on building authentic, caring relationships as a prerequisite for weekly checks on academics and behavior in school. Dominique was able to work with students on realizing their academic potential and assisted them in creating pathways to graduation.

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Dominique currently works with young adults at a non-profit neighborhood foundation, in charge of recruitment, job placement and development for disconnected young adults in southeast San Diego.

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