Meet Our Collective

Hi! My name is Amal Kharoufi and I’m a Youth Action Researcher. I am an otaku who loves Stardew Valley, coffee, and Skyrim. I can make about 6 different balloon animals/objects and I am the perfect person to take with you to a food festival. Growing up in the child welfare system I understand what it feels like to be alone and helpless. I want future youth to feel welcomed and heard regardless of their age, race, or identity. I want them to know that there are people here who are willing to help them carry the weight—that there are people extending their hands to them and all they have to do is grab it.

Why is this project important to you?
This project gives people who have been affected by the system the ability to take control of their lives. We have the power to make actual change and not just give people false hope and honeyed words.

What are your hopes and dreams for this project?
I hope we can redesign a broken system and give those in it hope for their future.

What have been some of your experiences in the project?
I’ve enjoyed working with people who not only understand the struggle but also have their own lived experiences.

What are your hopes and dreams for other young people?
I hope the future generations can have more and better opportunities to flourish than myself.

Amal’s Favorite Things:

Color: Purple
Animal: Sloth
Top 5 Animes: The Rising of the Shield Hero, Fairy Tail, Assassination Classroom, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, and The Ancient Magus’ Bride
Food: Lasagna
Beverage: Ginger ale and coffee
Zodiac Sign: Leo

I am Chanel Smith and I am a Youth Action Researcher with YouthNPower.

Why is this project important to you?
With my lived experience and passion for creating drastic change within Child Welfare, I’m motivated to be here, and being able to provide my insight and work on the direct cash transfer pilot project is significant for me. Also, knowing what we are doing is contributing to the bigger picture, and creating this form of support ensures a new path of support for young people transitioning out of care.

What do you hope to accomplish in this project?
My biggest hope is to decrease the disadvantages that constantly recur for young adults in care, aging out and those who have already aged out. I want the impact of the YouthNPower project to be an experience that changes the lives of young adults positively.

What have been some of your experiences in the project?
Channeling my past experiences with my team made me feel exposed. However, knowing at any time when you are talking about or referring to your trauma and feel vulnerable, I remember and remind myself when sharing that you do not have a single story. These are chapters of your blossoming journey that only you could have gone through. You got this far, so know, you already won.

What are your hopes and dreams for other young people?
I dream of seeing all young people coming out of care winning. I hope these individuals continuously believe that they can do anything they put their minds to, and those desires are tangible. Remain focused and disciplined, and know the world is a better place with you here.

Chanel’s Favorite Things:
Author: William Shakespeare
Color: pink/brown and red/green
Current Favorite Book: The Subtle Art of Not Giving A #@%!
Flower: Sunflowers & Roses
Hobby: Creative Artist
Zodiac: Taurus

Hello, My name is Chidera SIbeudu. I am a Youth Action Organizer for this great project. I am also a Site Coordinator for the KIPP Spark Academy site for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Newark. I am a seasoned youth educator and mentor. My background in Community Health Education from Kean University (NJ) has given me great insight to youth development and increasing healthy life choices for my community members. I strive to save lives each and every day through transformative justice in my form of survival services to the youth in my community. I believe in mastering your power to be able to discover your purpose to our society. Each person was once a youth and they had an experience that molded their current state of being. I believe that all young people must have the same opportunity to achieve their life’s purpose while enjoying a sustainable environment for peace, love, and growth. Not only do I desire to inspire the youth, I make it a habit to empathize with their struggle and resilience on a daily basis. We, as gatekeepers, have the task of creating an environment of extreme ownership in our efforts to change our current system to achieve youth justice.

Why is this project important to you?
I believe that all young people, especially those young people who need assistance, deserve a fair chance at prosperity. This means we have to change the status quo of what our Child Welfare system offers to our youth. I believe this project will help create momentum for youth in transition from care to ultimately find financially stable independence.

What are your hopes and dreams for this project?
My dream for this project is to bring more youth out of poverty, especially in urban communities. We know how important it is to invest in the future. I believe this investment into our youth will increase productivity and revitalize our youth morale and mental stability.

What have been some of your experiences in the project?
One of the most exciting experiences was having a chance to lead a discussion with leaders of thought and fellow advocates at our state level briefing with lawmakers and staff interested in our efforts. It was nerve-racking but fulfilling mainly because I appreciated that platform that was given to our group to put forth our plans to solve a problem in our community.

What are your hopes and dreams for other young people?
I strive so that all young people will have equity in our opportunities. We know many youth have a more arduous journey to success, peace or prosperity. To me, that means we must right the wrongs done by our systems of care and demand change from the entities tasked with supporting our young citizens.

Chidera’s Favorite Things:
Color: Blue
Animal: Panther
Hobbies: Calisthenics, Weightlifting, Basketball, Coaching, Mentoring, Reading
Food: Philly Cheesesteak
Book: The Art of War
Vacation Destination: Cabo, St. Tropez
Activist: Rev. William Barber II
Beverage: Water, Ginger Tea, Lemonade
Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius

I am a Youth Action Organizer with YouthNPower, and I am hard working, organized and determined. I am a team leader who uplifts those who are lacking confidence in a situation. My talents are singing, dancing, reading, journaling, knitting and crocheting. My lived experiences include growing up in the foster care system and feeling like I didn’t have an opportunity in my life due to my past. With those lived experiences, I doubted myself for many years thinking I wasn’t able to live a full life due to my lack of financial stability, family and college education. I am more than my past. I am a mother who is determined to bring about change and awareness so that others do not have to suffer anymore and feel like they are alone.

Why is this project important to you?
This project is extremely important to me because young people endure the hardships of the foster care system and are still fighting through the negative comments from people who aren’t walking in the shoes they wear daily. Youth may feel hopeless, or they may feel like nobody understands what they’re going through. I was one of those young people with many questions but no one I trusted to ask.

What are your hopes and dreams for this project?
My hopes and dreams for this project are to bring awareness to the raw and uncut life of the foster care system. I know that the stories from young people will motivate our leaders to revamp the system and create programs that benefit youth who are struggling. My dream is for young people who age out to have a job, housing, food, and stable advocates throughout their journey of life.

What have been some of your experiences in the project?
Being able to hear other people’s stories allowed me to know that I was in a community with the same hurt as others. Being able to be a part of my first ever briefing for public officials was the biggest for me because I was able to share my life story with New York’s legislative members. I’ve never imagined in my life that I would have a platform where it’s ok to tell your life experience and not have to wear a mask.

What are your hopes and dreams for other young people?
My hopes and dreams for other young people are to continue to fight and bring awareness to their daily struggles.

Christine’s Favorite Things:

Color: Blue
Animal: Dogs
Hobby: Singing, reading
Food: Hot wings and cheese fries
Beverage: Strawberry kiwi vitamin water
Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

Hi there! My name is Denice and I’m an August Virgo. I’m a very organized and ambitious person and I love to swim and bake. I am a Youth Action Organizer with YouthNPower.

Why is this project important to you?
This project is important to me because the child welfare system is in need of change for the mental, physical, and emotional health of the children.

What do you hope to accomplish in this project?
I hope to achieve our priorities and a betterment of the child welfare system for all its current as well as future transition age youth.

What have been some of your experiences in the project?
My team and I have planned and executed speeches for a delegation of New York lawmakers as well as begun to write blogs. Most recently, we have begun interviewing each other about our own lived experiences for our storytelling work. These experiences have made me feel connected with them as well as more vulnerable and confident in myself.

What are your hopes and dreams for other young people?
I hope that they heal from their past traumatic experiences and follow their heart into what they want to do.

Denice’s Favorite Things:

Color: Bright Red & Sage Green
Animal: Sea Otters & Sloths
Hobby: Yoga & Swimming
Food: Pozole & Chicken Wings
Beverage: Kombucha & Tepache
Zodiac Sign: Virgo Sun, Aquarius Rising, Taurus Moon

Hi! My name is Ellenie Liang. My skills are being a team player and being a quick learner! My talent is being able to drink lemon juice without making a sour face. My lived experiences align closely to those who aged out or left foster care at an earlier age. The cut-off connection with the system left me clueless on the resources and opportunities that I had as a college student. I only learned about programs like the Fostering Youth College Success Initiative, Education and Training Vouchers, and the Chafee program through word of mouth. I am a Youth Action Researcher with YouthNPower.

Why is this project important to you?
This project is important to me because I often see myself among those aged-out youth, who have to manage on their own emotionally and financially. Being a part of this project is almost self-healing for myself as I was in that similar position.

What do you hope to accomplish in this project?
What I hope to accomplish in this project is have these aged-out youth feel heard and seen through our project. I also hope that organizations hold that same sentiment for these young people despite being out of the system.

What have been some of your experiences in the project?
Our heavy, emotional conversations as a group were such an impactful experience for me as I came to realize how much the system had affected me. I noticed that I had buried that foster youth label away from myself. As much as I wanted to be away from it, it was my past. This project redefined the foster care system and I began to perceive the label as a motivator. Being a former foster youth motivated me to be better than the stereotypes tied to that label and continue to excel even more.

What are your hopes and dreams for other young people?
My hopes and dreams for young people are seeing the 100 individuals in our direct cash transfer pilot thrive in life and exceed their own expectations. I hope that these individuals are able to see their own dreams and aspirations as attainable and a reality.

Ellenie’s Favorite Things:

Color: Turquoise and Beige
Animal: Dog and otters
Hobby: Reading manga, dyeing my hair, crocheting, puzzles, sudoku
Food: Hotpot at LaoJie
Beverage: Passionfruit green tea with lychee jelly
Zodiac: Pisces, Rising Virgo, Aquarius Moon
Book: Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Author: Sadly, I don’t read enough books to have a favorite author
Season: Spring/ Fall
Vacation Destination: Korea
Flower: Baby’s Breath aka gypsophila
Activist: Pauli Murray
Revolutionary: Women’s Rights

Hello, my name is Embraia Fraizer. I am a Youth Action Researcher for this amazing project! I am an ambitious multi-talented young adult who is driven by successful community impact, youth and peer development, and walking in God-given purpose. Not only do I desire to inspire and motivate others to be the best version of themselves, I believe there are people who are waiting for you to activate the gift on the inside so that they may also be free! Unleash your story so you can be a part of the change you want to see!

Why is this project important to you?
This project is important to me because we don’t talk enough about the financial safety net being removed when you age out of foster care. Alongside transitioning to a new chapter of life including a new environment, new and additional bills and maintenance of your lifestyle, the last thing a young adult should be worried about is trying to figure out which necessities they can go without because of lack of finances. Financial freedom is a gift everyone should experience. With this project some in the direct cash transfer pilot will have the opportunity to not only enjoy this transition but have space to get what they need and want.

What do you hope to accomplish in this project?
My sense of accomplishment pertaining to this project would come from knowing that we would be able to add more than 100 young adults to experience this project as part of the direct cash transfer pilot, as well as pave a way for more pilot programs such as this one to arise. No one knows our needs more than us: NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US!

What have been some of your experiences in the project?
My experiences have been full of awakening and self discovery! I was a panelist representing our entire project at a national conference for faith leaders and youth advocacy in 2022. Not only did I discover my love for public speaking, I learned I have a huge passion for social justice and youth activism as well as personal development. I have experienced what it means to start something from the very beginning and witnessing the dedication, hard work and persistence of others, which proves that the work we do is essential. Every experience has been filled with strong emotion, great lifelong connections, love, grace, and gratitude!

What are your hopes and dreams for other young people?
My personal hope for other young people is that they come into awareness of knowing that where they are now is not what defines them; it is a strength to struggle and persevere! We are the change the world is waiting for! We are the voices that speak life into the younger version of ourselves! We are leading ourselves to be the healed, whole, and impactful versions of ourselves! We are more than our circumstances, and more than anything, I need them to know there are others waiting on your story so live it gracefully!

Embraia’s Favorite Things:

Color: Blue
Hobbies: Worshiping (Singing), Game planning
Future Careers: Entrepreneur / Council Member / Youth Activist
Vacation Destinations: Jamaica / Maldives / Brazil
Drink: Caramel Macchiato double shot espresso and WATER
Season: Warm Fall

Hello, my name is Grace Tatom and I am a Youth Action Organizer with YouthNPower. I love reading, and learning new skills, and my creativity can get carried away sometimes to where I’m brainstorming a million things. I love just being joyful with my family and friends, and I can definitely set the tone for good, positive vibes!

Growing up in the child welfare system, I experienced connectedness and disconnectedness with others and myself. For youth, it’s important to know that being in the system doesn’t define them. It’s okay to speak up and their voice is important. Their voice is needed and crucial; every single youth has a purpose and with the right support, environment and opportunities there’s nothing that they won’t be able to do. Together as a community change can be created.

Why is this project important to you?
I believe the work we’re doing is important and would be healing to our communities. I’m finding my purpose and helping others, learning and creating great connections.

What do you hope to accomplish in this project?
I hope to help establish the support and resources our youth need. I want to create a community where youth feel heard, supported and in control of their life.

What have been some of your experiences in this project?
I enjoy listening,sharing, learning and connecting with others. I’m open and understanding to the process that’s happening and becoming more self aware as we go along our journey. I enjoy committing to something that I’m passionate about with others who share the same passion and vision.

What are your hopes and dreams for other young people in this project?
I hope for the youth to not have to go through similar challenges and issues.  I want to bring awareness and change, and for them to have the resources and opportunities they need. Young people deserve to have their environment setup for success and their empowerment internalized. I want them to have a reminder that they are in control and power of their life.

Grace’s Favorite Things:
Favorite anime: Naruto
Holidays: Thanksgiving and Christmas
Hobby: Listening to music; reading, cooking; writing
Sport: Basketball
Author: Brene Brown and James Patterson

I am the YouthNPower: Transforming Care Project Manager. I grew up from the age of 3 to 16 in foster homes, group homes, and other juvenile institutions. I found that writing poetry and acting on stage would be the catalyst I needed to not only survive in the institutions but also thrive. While amidst many obstacles, I earned my  AA from Bard College, my BS from Nyack College through HudsonLink, and capped my academic career with a Masters in Professional Studies from the New York Theological Seminary. As an actor I recently performed at the Bushwick Starr Theater in One Whale’s tale’s production Quince, I work as an alternatives to violence facilitator, and I formerly worked with gang involved youth at the Center for Alternatives Sentencing and Employment Services as a community Benefits Project Supervisor. In 2022, I represented youth in foster care when I spoke at the White House, uplifting our issues and voices.  I currently live between Queens and East Harlem until I find my home!

Why is this project important to you?
As a person who once lived in foster homes, I desperately wished someone would listen to me. I hoped someone would learn about what I needed and help me. That wish never came true as a young boy. Perhaps now with not just one voice, but with many of my brothers and sisters who have transformed their pain into power, their hurt into demands, we can now achieve a world where we are genuinely, proactively, and intrinsically prioritizing the voices and leadership of young people.

What are your hopes and dreams for this project?
My hope and dream for this project is for all organizations involved in the child welfare system to institute a serious inquiry into their decision-making processes. Organizations who are dedicated to fighting anyone or any entity that harms youth should have impacted young people in their leadership structure. My hope is that our project will support young leaders to emerge into the field as the professionals who will transform the entire system from top to bottom.

What have been some of your experiences in the project?
Being able to spend time with our young leaders everyday is a joy. I am mostly proud of how we all have overcome the hardships we went through and now we are using those experiences as springboards to tell our stories and uplift our needs. Witnessing our youth leaders organize and plan a legislative delegation briefing this year was an historic display of leadership and tenacity and also hope. I say hope because I believe it is the power of hope that allows us to transform our pain into power. And I experience and witness that from this group every day.

What are your hopes and dreams for young people?
My hopes and dreams for young people are that we finally have some concrete and sustainable plans to keep their wellbeing the number one priority. One day, young people should not have to worry about ever being harmed in a deliberate or neglectful way. My hope is that each and every organization prioritizes our issues by assuring that their leadership includes people with lived experience informing their practices, policies, and over culture, while also having a trauma-informed care umbrella that covers every part of the organization.

Jose’s Favorite Things:
Color: Burgundy
Animal: Wolf/Dog
Hobby: Reading and writing poetry
Food: Curry goat roti, MY spaghetti & meatballs
Beverage: Black coffee
Zodiac Sign: Taurus
Personal Dream: published poet
Poet: Kahlil Gibran
Book: Mine…and between Just Mercy, and Solitary
Season: Autumn
Vacation: Africa
Activist: Jose Pineda, President/Founder After Incarceration, Inc.
Revolutionary: Clarence 13X, aka The Father, aka Allah, Founder of the Nation of Gods and Earths
Quote: “You will know in words that which you’ve always known in thought. You will touch with your fingers the naked body of your dreams” — Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

My name is Julia Davis. I am the Director of Youth Justice and Child Welfare at the Children’s Defense Fund-New York and a Facilitator with YouthNPower: Transforming Care.  I have learned from and worked with young people for a long time as a policy advocate and a civil rights lawyer.  When I’m not collaborating with YouthNPower, I am usually in Brooklyn walking on the beach, making art, cooking and watching movies with my family.

Why is this project important to you?
Young people who have lived in the system and come from over-surveilled communities have the wisdom, insight and expertise to guide the changes we need. YouthNPower is built on that foundation. I am here for that.

What do you hope to accomplish in this project?
We are building collective knowledge about how young people aging out of foster care can use unconditional cash support while we also reimagine what the experience of transition could look like. I hope that young people across New York City will share their lived expertise with us through our research, storytelling and organizing work in this project.

What have been some of your experiences in this project?
Every time we meet I learn more from the YouthNPower collective.  It’s extraordinary.  Research.  Organizing.  Advocacy.  Storytelling.  All of this is happening in a community of mutual care and respect.

Julia’s Favorite Things: 
Author: Hilary Mantel
Color: Yellow
Animal: Pangolin
Flower: White roses
Hobby: Cooking and hanging out at the beach
Food: Albondigas
Season: Summer
Zodiac: Aquarius

I am a Youth Action Researcher with YouthNPower. I am a New York City native, who’s reserved, passionate and dedicated to this work. Despite my young age, I bring my insightful skillset and vast experiences to the field of advocacy. At age 19, I published my first Op-Ed regarding youth aging out of foster care during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. At that time, I was peer mediating as a senior in high school, helping my fellow youth succeed during a dire time. Since then I’ve been a rising star, working towards a change for foster youth in and aged-out of the system. Now attending college majoring in psychology (and on the honor society), I hope to give it my all, using personal experience in and outside of the system, my skills in the office, and my overall unique perspective to advocate for young people.

Why is this project important to you?
This project is important to me not just because of my given experience, but the mere idea of a change being made in systems that failed many like myself is exciting. Consistently, foster youth have been handed the short end of the stick when it comes to assistance, care, stability, and the very necessities needed to flourish in an unknown environment placed not by choice, but circumstance.

What do you hope to accomplish in this project?
It’s my hope that I accomplish the task that I’ve set out on with my team, to make a change for the better in one or a multitude of ways with the Direct Cash Transfer pilot and for those who receive it.

What have been some of your experiences in this project?
Working on this project, I have been meeting with various organizations like Exalt Youth and Youth Represent. I also spoke on a panel regarding the project during the national Proctor institute for Child Advocacy Ministry in Clinton, TN with a small team of dedicated, passionate and influential advocates with whom I have the pleasure of working alongside.

What are your hopes and dreams for other young people?
My hope is that even after the project has reached its end, that I have made a lasting impact of positivity and made the staggeringly imperfect foster care system apparent to those who can orchestrate the necessary change. My dream is that said systems will be improved and no child has to suffer rather than be safe in care despite unfortunate circumstances that led them, and that young people know it’s not the end, but only a moment in time.

Justin’s Favorite Things:
Author: Terri Woods
Color: Forest green
Book: True to the Game
Hobby: Poetry
Zodiac: Aries
Quote: “It isn’t where you come from, It’s where you’re going that counts” – Ella Fitzgerald

Hey, my name is Laetitia Brutus and I am a Youth Action Organizer with YouthNPower.

Why is this project important to you?
This project is important to me in many ways. For one, it gives me the opportunity to be a leader and inspiration to young people who are experiencing hardships in their lives. It allows me to not only better understand the foster care system but how myself and others can be a part of making change happen.

What do you hope to accomplish in this project?
It is also important to me because I have realized how much has been overlooked by officials when it comes to the system and what it is doing to young people. I hope that I can take what I’ve done to teach others and to apply it to what I want to become in the future.

What have been some of your experiences in this project?
In this project I’ve gotten to hear people’s stories and how they were able to overcome being in the system.

What are your hopes and dreams for other young people?
I hope that young people can become more confident in their voices and speak up.

Laetitia’s Favorite Things:
Color: Pastel pink
Book: Error 404
Flower: Roses
Hobby: Thrifting or watching Asian dramas

 Hola! My name is María Caba. I am a Black Dominican social justice educator, disruptor, and community organizer living in Brooklyn, NY. A former DACAmented youth, I have engaged in deep grassroots community organizing with immigrant youth throughout NYC since the early 2010s. I received a bachelor’s in psychology from Hunter College and am a CUNY ASAP and 2016 Coro’s Immigrant Civic Leadership Program (ICLP) alumna. I am the Youth Leadership and Advocacy Manager at the Children’s Defense Fund-New York, where I work to train, empower and mobilize NYC youth to action. I am a Facilitator with YouthNPower: Transforming Care.

Why is this project important to you?

The YouthNPower Project is important because it is youth-led. Our Youth Action Organizers and Researchers are informing and leading every part of this work by using their expertise to envision a more just child welfare system. We center the voices of those with lived experience in the child welfare system to name their problems and solutions.

What do you hope to accomplish in this project?

I hope we improve the conditions of youth transitioning out of the system, and that our communities recognize the role young people play in our pursuit of justice and social change.

What have been some of your experiences in the project?

I have been continuously inspired by the powerful leadership our Youth Action Organizers and Researchers have demonstrated throughout the project. In a span of a few weeks, our Organizers led targeted outreach to their communities and hosted their first congressional briefing with our leaders in Washington, DC, and our Researchers have researched and developed the direct cash transfer pilot and our first survey.

What are your hopes and dreams for young people?

I hope young people are emboldened to demand a seat at the tables where decisions are made that impact them and their communities. I hope we inspire young people to organize, mobilize and demand the changes they want to see in their communities.

Maria’s Favorite Things:
Author: Zora Neale Hurston
Color: Yellow
Current Favorite Book: When We Make It
Flower: Sunflower
Hobby: Listening to Music, Kundalini Yoga and Hiking
Zodiac: Aquarius Sun and Moon, Pisces Rising

Hi! My name is Maya Tellman. I was raised in the Bay Area, California but eventually made my way out to New York to pursue my undergraduate degree. I have been active in Participatory Action Research (PAR) projects since 2018, inspiring a return to school in 2020. I am currently a PhD student in Sociology at the City University of New York’s (CUNY) Graduate Center, a member of CUNY’s Public Science Project, a professor at Brooklyn College, and a facilitator in the YouthNPower project. When I’m not working I love spending time in nature, dancing with friends, sewing, and running around Prospect Park.

Why is this project important to you?
This project means so much to me — as a researcher, as an advocate, and as a human being. I learn from my colleagues everyday — about the realities of the child welfare system, about how to make decisions collectively, and how to ask questions and do research in a way that can connect to real change.

What do you hope to accomplish in this project?
I hope that our project not only brings awareness to the barriers that young people face as they age out of care, but also to the wisdom and power of young people in and beyond our project. I hope that our work can help make the case for guaranteed income as a right for all young people aging out, and can contribute to the growing knowledge of how our current social safety net fails and harms young adults.

What have been some of your experiences in this project?
This project challenges the way that research is so commonly carried out in academic spaces and the hierarchical ways we are made to think about expertise. My experiences in this project have shown me what it means to be deliberately participatory and democratic in our decision-making processes – a slow, sometimes tense, but ultimately beautiful process that leads you to places you otherwise never would have found. I have learned from my colleagues how not to shy away from differences in understanding, but how to instead move through these moments with respect and a shared desire to learn. I’ve also learned how to always find moments for joy and fun amidst the hard work!

What are your hopes and dreams for young people aging out of care?
I hope that young people are given the support and security — financial and otherwise — that they truly need and deserve as they transition out of foster care and into adulthood. I hope that moving forward young people are always given a seat at the table for decisions that directly impact their lives.

Favorite Things:
Color: Orange
Hobbies: Being in nature, sewing, running
Animal: Gecko
Beverage: Fresh coconut water
Zodiac Sign: Pisces Sun, Scorpio Rising, Aquarius Moon

My name is Mica Baum-Tuccillo. I am a licensed social worker, educator, researcher, and a facilitator with YoutNPower. Over the last decade plus, I have helped build several research collectives, which have used eclectic methods to organize around urgent concerns of justice and produce knowledge collaboratively and with joy. I have an MSW from Hunter College, where I focused on trauma-informed psychodynamic therapy and research with LGBTQ+ people, and a Masters of Philosophy in Psychology from the Graduate Center, where I am a doctoral candidate and a Mellon Humanities PublicsLab Fellow. When not researching or facilitating, I am usually cooking, playing music, camping, gathering with friends & family, or running/biking.

Why is this project important to you?
Because we are not interested in tinkering with the systems that maintain violence and the status quo, but in building a radically more just, caring, and sustainable world. Because this project centers young people’s wisdom, expertise, analysis and leadership. Because the questions we ask matter, and data never speak for themselves.

What do you hope to accomplish in this project?
I believe that critical collaborative inquiry can lead to collective liberation. This is always what I’m hoping for. Beyond that, I hope that we provide meaningful support to young people who are aging out of care, that young people find our work compelling and choose to add their expertise, and that we can make a case for a youth-led agenda that challenges systemic violence and oppression, and includes unsurveilled and unconditional financial support.

What have been some of your experiences in the project?
I am inspired by how our collective is weaving rigorous research with organizing for relational and political justice. The creativity, wisdom, and vulnerability that each person has brought to our work is magnificent. Whether we are designing a survey, power mapping, conducting interviews, analyzing data, storytelling, designing self/community care strategies, we are deliberate about participation, we take the time required to build trust, we support each other’s leadership, and we center care and dignity. Plus, I love getting to be one of the meeting DJs on our zooms!

What are your hopes and dreams for young people?
I hope that young people demand to have power in decision-making processes in all aspects of their lives. My dream for young people — and really for all of us — is that we find beautiful, intergenerational communities and movements where we are loved, where we can heal, where we are powerful, and where we feel at home.

Mica’s Favorite Things:
Author: octavia butler
Colors: turquoise, purple
Flowers: tiger lilies, lavender
Hobbies: cooking, camping, traveling, music festivals, playing music, reading, writing poetry
Food: anything that tastes like home
Beverages: espresso macchiato, mint tea, WATER!
Movie genres: sci-fi thrillers
Zodiac: gemini sun, capricorn moon, cancer rising

Hello my name is Mya. I’m a college student and a 9-5 worker… Not for long though. I was In the foster care system for about 6 years and honestly it’s developed me into the person I am. I’ve seen and experienced things that are terrifying but fortunately I’m still here today. I am a Youth Action Researcher with YouthNPower.

Why is this project important to you?

This project is important to me because it gives me the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life.

What do you hope to accomplish in this project?

I hope that this project can accomplish actually making someone’s life greater and not just better. I’ve met some amazing people and gotten some great opportunities through this project.

What are your hopes and dreams for other young people?

One major dream that I have for other young people is to take their trauma and use that as their power to help other young people as well.

Mya’s Favorite Things:
Color: Purple and green
Animal: Dolphins
Food: Pizza
Beverage: Water
Zodiac Sign: Cancer (it’s the best sign, obviously …)

Hello, my name is Shania Benjamin and I am on the YouthNPower survey committee. I am a Youth Action Organizer. I am empathic, caring, and an avid drama, mystery, and romance reader. I love combat sports, playing tennis and badminton, writing stories, and napping. I love doing research and having counseling sessions with friends. I’m obsessed with pop culture.

Why is this project important to you?
This project is important to me because we are in a time where young people are becoming their own mouthpieces and standing up for themselves and others. I knew very little about foster care coming into this project, and hearing my coworkers’ stories has widened my ideas about the system. It is harmful and misguided. The system creates the fabrication that it is the best option for children. I am proud to be a part of this project and help uplift the voices of other young people and hopefully create change so others don’t have to go through similar hardships.

What are your hopes and dreams for this project?
I want more legal rights for children in foster care. I want there to be rallies and meetings with lawmakers like the Governor and Mayor to give support to our cause.

What are your hopes and dreams for other young people?
I want everyone to feel the power in this work and feel great about what we are doing. It is in the beginning stages so it is very meticulous but once we get it right, it will become revolutionary.

Shania’s Favorite Things:
Color: Light Blue
Animal: Snake
Hobby: Hiking or Playing Tennis
Food: Chicken Gyro
Beverage: Sparking Water with Lemon
Zodiac Sign: Capricorn
Author: Talia Hibbert
Current Favorite Book: searching for it but the last book I read that I loved was A Marriage Story
Flower: Sunflower (because I love the way Billy Porter says it in Pose)

I am a young black Hondorian queen who has 7 beautiful kids. I can advocate for myself and others, and I am a very passionate person when it comes to something I feel strongly about. I am a Youth Action Organizer with YouthNPower.

Why is this project important to you?
This project is important to me because I want to change the broken system that broke me. I want the kids that come after me to get everything I never had as child and mother in the system.

What do you hope to accomplish in this project?
I wish that all former foster youth get the help they need.

What have been some of your experiences in the project?
My best experience in this project is the support system that the collective gives me.

Shauntay’s Favorite Things:
Animal: Dogs
Author: Judy B Jones
Color: Turquoise
Book: mine, when it comes out!
Flower: Lotus
Hobby: Pottery
Zodiac Sign: Virgo

My name is Sher Jamal Stone. In my work as a digital strategist, I’ve helped manage and lead communications for various youth justice campaigns, including Raise the Age NY, Act4JJ, National Juvenile Justice Network’s Youth Justice Action Month, as well as develop digital narrative workshops that engage directly with systems-involved youth and organizers. I’m truly excited to work alongside the powerful youth organizers and researchers of the YouthNPower project!

Why is this project important to you?
Too often, young people’s experiences and insights are ignored or considered an afterthought in our line of work. I’m proud to be a part of this project because it has been intentionally built out so that young people’s voices and power drive our mission, not the other way around.

What do you hope to accomplish in this project?
In my role helping coordinate the storytelling aspect of this project, More Than Fosters, I hope that people are able to see how much we value lifting up youth voice, and that young people who are systems-involved are excited to share their own experiences.

What have been some of your experiences in the project?
I’ve been really inspired by how willing young people and facilitators have been to experiment, pause, and learn and grow from challenges we’ve run into during the development of this project. We’ve been meeting for months to equip young people with the tools they’ll need to own their narrative in an empowering way.

What are your hopes and dreams for young people?
I hope that as many young people are able to develop the empowerment and confidence necessary to lead conversations about our collective future, so that the people in power are forced to put their egos to the side and listen.

Sher Jamal’s Favorite Things:
Author: Kurt Vonnegut
Color: Blue
Book: Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina García
Flower: Chrysanthemum
Hobby: Organizing my Spotify playlists
Zodiac: Aquarius

I have been working for social justice and the creation of a more humane, responsive, and equitable system of supports for families for over 40 years. I have held positions in government, philanthropy, community-based organizations, and for the past 20 years I’ve been at the Center for the Study of Social Policy, a national nonprofit committed to creating a racially, economically and socially just society so that all children, youth, families and communities thrive. Serving as CSSP’s Executive Vice President, I manage our program portfolio which spans work that encompasses our early prevention and promotion efforts for young families and efforts to reform, transform, and re-imagine our country’s family surveillance system. I am part of the Facilitator team with YouthNPower: Transforming Care.

Why is this project important to you?
This project is important not only because it is one of the truest examples of what co-leadership with young people really looks like in practice but also because I believe that society owes young people who have transitioned out of foster care a guaranteed basic income.

What do you hope to accomplish in this project? 
Our Direct Cash Transfer Pilot and the lessons we learn from the research our Youth Action Researchers will be gathering can help build the case for making such a fund part of our country’s safety net

What have been some of your experiences in the project?
I worked closely with the Youth Action Organizers as they prepared for meeting with the NY State Congressional staff on the needs of transition age youth. Watching them decide what issues to prioritize, research those issues, write and practice their testimony, and finally deliver their recommendations at the Briefing were beautiful examples of the power of young people to push for change.

What are your hopes and dreams for young people?
My greatest hope would be that all young people are connected and supported by family and community, that they have the skills, resources and education necessary to pursue their dreams, that they have the opportunity to give back and a voice in making the world a better place, and that they live in communities that embrace their full identities, culture, and backgrounds.

Susan’s Favorite Things:
Author: Too many to name
Color: Green
Book:  A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles
Flower: Plumeria
Hobby: Dance and exercise
Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Although I love my friends and family members, I am an introvert and have always been considered a loner. Even as a child, I needed much less social interaction with other children to be satisfied. I no longer see this characteristic as a flaw because it’s my most authentic expression of self and is nothing to be ashamed of. When I was in some of the darkest places in my life, my love and talent for poetry was born. I am able to effortlessly translate my feelings, thoughts and emotions into writing in ways that aren’t always easy to articulate verbally. Cooking is a skill that I learned earlier in life than a lot of other children. Throughout the earlier years of my life, I was always in the kitchen with an adult when I could be. I was always in the kitchen learning and absorbing knowledge, whether it be with my mom, grandma, an aunt, uncle, etc. My skills and knowledge in the kitchen not only grew but also came in handy as I became older. I believe the truth tends to be much stranger than fiction. I enjoy looking into conspiracy theories and questioning reality as I’ve always known it to be. I have much more lived-experience and things about myself to share, but I would be writing all day! I am a Youth Action Researcher with YouthNPower.

Why is this project important to you? 
I care about my input and lived experience being heard because I know there is a child living through the same things I have experienced once before. If sharing part of my life perspective can garner more understanding for current youth going through the same or similar experiences, that’s my main goal.

What are your hopes and dreams for this project?
My hopes and dreams for this project are that even after my role in it ends, the project has longevity and can serve those who it’s intended to help. Realistically, it’s not necessarily about me and what I can personally gain from it. I have hopes that my contributions to the project will allow those like me to be served better in the future.

What have been some of your experiences in the project?
Being a part of a team with a non-toxic work environment has been a breath of fresh air for me. There’s been overwhelming support in this project from everyone who is part of the team. We’ve had some tough but equally productive and respectful conversations in the work. I admire everyone’s ability to always recalibrate and remember what this is all for.

What are your hopes and dreams for other young people?
My hopes and dreams for other people is that they keep persevering through whatever adversity life may be challenging them with. I also hope that these young people have support and resources to turn to if/when they need it.

T’Coy’s Favorite Things:
Color: Gold
Animal: Mythological – The Phoenix
Hobby: Writing poetry, cooking, conspiracy theories
Food: I’m a foodie, but my taste in food is picky and can change from season to season or from year to year.
Beverage: Herbal tea
Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius