Phelipe is a career changer who is currently the upper academy dean of humanities at Libertas Academy Charter School located in Springfield, Massachusetts. Phelipe’s passion for teaching started with his work as the Peer Education Coordinator for Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania. After four years in this role, Phelipe chose to attend law school in Springfield, MA. During his time in law school, Phelipe was elected as vice president for both the Black Law Student Association and the Public Interest Law Association.

Upon graduating in 2015, he felt the calling to go from the courtroom to the classroom. Phelipe started as a teaching fellow and eventually taught both second and third grade in Springfield. In addition to serving as the dean of humanities at Libertas Academy, he’s also taught seventh and eighth grade ELA, and served as their DEI fellow. Outside of the classroom, Phelipe was selected to participate in the InSPIRED Fellowship through DESE and currently serves on the board for the Teaching Learning Alliance. Phelipe earned a bachelor of arts from Kenyon College and a Juris Doctor from Western New England University School of Law.

In his spare time, Phelipe enjoys cooking, closing all the rings on his apple watch, and binge watching new shows in the Netflix top 10.