The beginning

One organization. Five years ago. Reflecting back, it feels as if founding Foster Advocates was a lifetime ago, yet in many ways it feels like yesterday.  Maybe this means time is indeed a flat circle, but I think this is how any life-changing event seems. Outside of history and the flow of time. Forever now an anchor part in one's memory. 

I had moved back to Minnesota to build on the work I started as a Fellow at the US Department of Education in D.C. I quickly discovered that no policy and advocacy organization existed that served or was led by current or former foster youth. I founded Foster Advocates to fill this critical gap. Through this, I have found a renewed sense of purpose by creating more opportunities for Foster leaders and collectively improving outcomes for Fosters in the system. 

I founded Foster Advocates in 2018 based on an audacious idea: that child welfare systems change could, and should, be led by the people most impacted. Since then, I have seen the organization grow from one person to this year, becoming a team of seven! What started as an idea, in outrage that the same systemic challenges I faced in foster care were still present, has moved well beyond my personal vision. I am humbled that Foster Advocates has grown beyond anything I dared to dream.

People who know me know I am not the most optimistic person. I often tell my team and young people that I leave the dreaming and hoping to them and that I am just here to do the work. 

In Infinite Hope and Solidarity,
Hoang