2015 All-Stars

Ridmi spent 6 years in Vermont's foster care system. Ridmi Coe immigrated to the United States at a young age from Sri Lanka. She entered the foster care system at the age of twelve and remained in custody until she aged out as an adult. Her passion in life is... Read more

Ariana Guerra spent 4 years in Minnesota's foster care system. Born and raised in southern Minnesota, Ariana spent 4 years in foster care. While her biggest struggle has been with reunification and maintaining healthy relationships, she found refuge in her education. With the help of her fierce support system she... Read more

Tristan Torres is a former foster youth from Las Vegas, NV. He spent 9 months in care and now uses his lived experience to advocate for system reform for LGBTQ2+ youth in out-of-home settings. He has used his story in collaboration with several non-profits to pass a law in Nevada... Read more

Teal spent 11 years in Montana's foster care system. Teal Martell is eighteen years old and has spent eleven years in the Foster Care system in the state of Montana. Teal’s experience in the foster care system was one that really made her who she is today. Separation from her... Read more

Eric spent 9 years in Massachusetts' foster care system. Eric, a resident of Massachusetts, has lived through the foster care system for about nine years. His life goal has been to bring justice where the voices are made silent and oppressed. It’s a tremendous goal he admits, but he states... Read more

Erika spent 4 years in Texas' foster care system. Erika entered the foster care system at age 14. Since then, she has been in multiple placements. She transferred to five different high schools and has been in foster homes, group homes, shelters, and residential treatment centers. Erika overcame the stigma... Read more

Ezekiel spent 11 years in Texas' foster care system. Ezekiel (Zeke) Adekolu was born in Lagos, Nigeria. He immigrated to the United States after his mother passed away. He was placed in foster care due to physical and emotional abuse and neglect by his parents. Even though he still experienced... Read more

Isaiah Palomo spent 2 years in Idaho’s DHS system. During his time in care Isaiah experienced 5 placements. A residential home, a kinship care placement, and three foster homes. The system was hard for Isaiah to navigate as he was the eldest of five children whom were separated from each... Read more

Aviva spent 1 year in Missouri's foster care, entering when she was 17 years old. She is excited to raise awareness about the benefits and challenges of kinship care and help end the stigma of being in foster care. Originally from Springfield, Missouri, Aviva is moving to Columbia, Missouri to... Read more