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When 32-year-old Harold Leffall Jr. was about seven, he'dset up "a little desk with notepads" and play business inhis mother's small Oakland, California, abode. Family andfriends thought it endearing but certainly had no idea young Haroldwould actually grow up to head a staffing business with salesexceeding the million-dollar mark--especially since no one in thefamily had ever gone to college and welfare was the primary sourceof income. "A lot of people say they didn't know they werepoor when they were growing up," says Leffall, owner ofLeffall Employment Agency in Oakland. "But I knew I was onwelfare, and I didn't like it. I decided very early on thatwhen I got older, [being poor] wouldn't be part of mylife." With the idea that individuals living above the povertyline possessed a higher level of education, Leffall enrolledhimself in California State University at Hayward, despite the facthe had to simultaneously work as a shoe salesman to put food on thetable. Academic life initially caught the wide-eyed freshman offguard. Luckily, Leffall, whose father "really wasn'taround" growing up, gained valuable mentors through thefederally funded Upward Bound program, designed to providemotivational support to first-generation college students fromlow-income families. "I was fortunate because that exposed meto individuals from similar backgrounds who not only successfullywent on to college, but also completed it." And complete it hedid. It took five years, but Leffall, a business administrationmajor on first declaration, finally graduated with a degree inpolitical science. "Like most college students, I was overlyoptimistic," recalls Leffall, who once aspired to be a citymanager. "I thought `As soon as I get a degree, I'll havejob offers coming from everywhere.' But it took a whole year tofind a job."

The Quest For Independence

Ditching his shoehorn, Leffall spent the following six yearsworking in community-service positions. For the first five, hecreated youth and family programs in urban communities for theOakland Housing Authority. And for the next year, he aided anonprofit organization in getting the community more involved withthe educational upbringing of children. Unfortunately, the goodvibes created by the goodwill work became increasingly strained bybureaucratic frustration. Whether it was being passed over for manya promotion by his first employer or nearly being laid off when theproposed five-year community education project came to a halt afterless than a year, it became starkly apparent to Leffall that it wastime to get started working for his own cause.