Brandon Cherry spent 18 years in California's Foster Care System

Brandon was placed into foster care at the age of nine months. He was later adopted by a woman in her sixties whom he lived with until she passed away when Brandon was 14. He lived with her eldest daughter until he went away to college and has been on his own ever since. Brandon has completed his third year at CSU Los Angeles, where he is majoring in Civil Engineering and minoring in Economics. Eventually Brandon would like a career in the construction business building bridges and overseeing structural designs. He also works part-time as a CAD map designer where he draw layouts of venues including such well known places such as the Rose Bowl, Staple Center, and Los Angeles Convention Center. Brandon’s volunteer experience began during high school 9th grade, where he was a Youth Advocate for the nonprofit organization Day One. In his senior year Brandon became a Peer2Peer mentor. In college Brandon became a member of the 7UP group consisting of 7 emancipated foster youth represented by Casey Family Programs, and was appointed president. He attends community and campus-based meetings to speak and advocate on behalf of foster youth. He is a selfless team player that assists in providing younger students around him with information that has led them to greater personal outcomes. Brandon says, “Helping people in need has always been important to me. I can’t recall the many times I helped out a friend or peer. I’m devoted to serving my community and open to all new challenges. Ten years from now I still see myself as an active member in my community. I personally would like give $5000 a year to five former foster youth engineering college students.”

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2011 Outstanding Young Leaders
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