If I Knew Then: Life of Yusef-Andre Wiley

Yusef Andre Wiley, was born October 24, 1969 and raised in South Los Angeles, California. Both of his parents, Betty and Sampson Wiley originally from the state of Texas. Andre is the youngest of five children. By the age of 13, he started associating with gang members and getting into trouble around the neighborhood. After serving a juvenile sentence, Mr. Wiley continued his gang involvement with other known gang members earning a reputation as a gang banger in the areas of South LA (Compton, Watts and Willowbrook) which eventually landed him in the correctional system in California at the age of 21. After being placed in solitary confinement, Mr. Wiley began to discover his spirituality and later converted to Islam. It was his spiritual faith that took him away from the destructive lifestyle of the gangs to a more purposeful and honorable way of living. He served 22 years before he was released in May 2012 at the age of 43. Mr. Wiley has now been working for many years to end gang and youth violence through his development and writing intervention and rehabilitation programs. He is the creator and founder of the Timelist Group (a pre-release/post-release) rehabilitation program which also provides housing for parolees Los Angeles California and continues to provide trainings at several CDCR facilities. He also has assisted several reentry start-up organizations in the SF Bay Area, a former Commissioner on the Human Relations Commission of the City of Union City, Alameda County Reentry Panels and Advisory Boards. He is an author and has gained an AA degree in Small Business Management as well as Paralegal Degree and is a certified speaker, trainer and coach of the John Maxwell Team. Mr. Wiley is currently the Founder and CEO of the Timelist Group, Inc, Lead Consultant at Prison Consulting USA and Reentry Coach.