Class of 2021

A man taking a walk with his Optune device to help with his condition.

Darryl Sanchez

Partners for Youth with Disabilities

“To mentor, to learn, train, and to support – this is our important duty. And to serve others, in whatever capacity, can give to them who will want to learn and also want to help each other as equals, and give back in kindness. That’s the key to have a full life!”

We are proud to induct Darryl Sanchez into the Susan Daniels Disability Mentoring Hall of Fame.

Born from the Philippines, Darryl was immigrated to the California when he was 11. He joined the US Marine Corps and deployed to Afghanistan, protecting POW’s and detainees, and worked with the infantry to detain Taliban fighters.

After the military, he went to college for Economics, and did an internship in northern Thailand to help in agricultural and education project. After graduating, Darryl joined the Peace Corps in Moldova from 2017-2019. Speaking in Russian, he trained librarians to improve their computer literacy skills and taught them how to support social media effectively. As a librarian, Darryl helped organized English clubs for youth where they used games to develop their vocabulary and discuss important social issues, while supporting students with under resourced or troubled teens. Darryl also helped local non-profit write grants for development aid and organized youth leadership conferences.

He graduated from Amherst College with a BA in Economics and started studying for Instructional Design in UMass Boston .

Recently, he was diagnosed with Glioblastoma, a rare brain cancer. He is undergoing through chemo and treatments.