Meet the team at Foster Advocates

Ariana Chamoun (she/her)

Interim Co-Executive Director, Director of Systems Change

  • Ariana advances Fosters’ vision for change through crafting and implementing policy solutions, organizing Fosters for statewide advocacy, and engaging with legislative partners.

    Born and raised in southern Minnesota, Ariana spent 4 years in foster care. While her biggest struggle had been with reunification and maintaining her own cultural identity, she found refuge in her education. With the help of her fierce support system, she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in International Relations, Political Science, and Spanish from Saint Cloud State University.

    After college, Ariana had the honor of interning with Foster Club, an opportunity that led to her passion for advocacy work. If she is not out running, traveling, at yoga, or gardening, you can find her somewhere outdoors with her partner and their 2 dogs, Harry & Jaxx.

    Email: ariana@fosteradvocates.org

Elena Leomi (she/her)

Interim Co-Executive Director,
Director of Network and Culture

  • Elena focuses on internal team structures, building capacity for leadership programs and research, and supporting the growth of our statewide Foster network.

    Elena started facilitating youth programs in high school and has a range of experience designing and managing youth programs focused on healthy development and sexuality, leadership, violence prevention, as well as racial and gender equity.

    She has seen the impact of letting young people lead, and values creating settings where their expertise and voices are heard. Elena is passionate about youth participatory research and advocacy. She brings those values to Foster Advocates while building out our leadership programs, including the annual Fellowship, and research platform.

    Elena holds an MSW and MPH from UC Berkeley and consults on research projects around youth civic engagement and modeling consent in after-school programs. In her spare time, she likes to play in her garden, cook spicy food, and explore the outdoors with her spouse. 

    Email: elena@fosteradvocates.org

Donté Wilkins (he/him)

Director of Support Programs

  • Donté focuses on supporting Fosters through managing our 1:1 mentoring support programs and building community partnerships to improve Foster-informed services across the education and housing landscape.

    Donté’s work experience spans a decade as a career and college coordinator and includes program management, non profit development, partnership engagement and advocacy.

    Born in Germany, Donté and his family relocated back to Chicago a year after his birth, subsequent to his dad finishing his stint in the Army. Growing up in Chicago, Donté enjoyed being a role model for his younger twin siblings. He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was the first in his family to graduate. In his free time, Donté loves to golf, play rec softball and soccer, watch his Chicago sports teams (go White Sox!) and appreciates spending quality time with friends and family.

Whitney Behle (she/her)

Housing Program Manager

  • Whitney focuses on housing stability for Fosters, starting with connection, empathy, and non-judgement. Whitney hopes that Fosters will be empowered to reach their goals while providing space to develop self and sustainability, express agency, and widen connections.

    Whitney has engaged in over eight years of advocacy and support work with youth and families in various settings. Her fiery passion for uplighting others comes from her own journey within child welfare, with formal placement in care as a pre-teen until aging-out. Whitney understands firsthand the impact of housing instability, domestic violence, and the juvenile justice system. She believes we all have a spark inside that may need a little help igniting to disrupt cycles, heal, and empower each other to keep swimming.

    Whitney graduated from UW-Eau Claire, Wisconsin with a B.A. in Psychology and a Child Welfare certificate. In her free time, she enjoys weight training, crystals, music, hiking, podcasts, cooking, and baking.

    Email: whitney@fosteradvocates.org

Sarah Blouin (she/her)

Education Program Manager

  • Sarah, a lifelong Minnesotan, supports Fosters in navigating major life transitions by focusing on strengths, sharing resources, cultivating skills, and building connections. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and a M.A. in Counseling Psychology from the University of St. Thomas.

    With nearly two decades of experience working with youth and young adults, Sarah specializes in guiding Fosters through school-to-life transitions, drawing on her background in education, mentoring, and career coaching. Sarah values holistic support, tailoring services to each Foster’s unique aspirations, and creating pathways that empower them to achieve their goals.

    Outside of work, Sarah enjoys exploring the outdoors—camping, paddleboarding, and gardening. She loves spending time with her family, tackling home projects, and expanding her knowledge across a range of topics from current events to brain development. You can often find her cheering on the Golden Gophers and Vikings in the fall.

Meet the founder of Foster Advocates

Hoang Murphy

As a former high school English teacher, Hoang saw the importance of amplifying student and family voices. As a Foster, he knew that children and families must have a seat at the policymaking table. As founder of Foster Advocates, Hoang worked to ensure that those most impacted by current inequities had a voice in making decisions and crafting solutions.

Hoang was the 2023 Child Welfare Change Maker award recipient, a 2022 Bush Fellow, the 2021 CCAI Angel in Adoption award recipient, and served as the 2016 Public Policy Fellow with the United States Department of Education. He is a proud first-generation college graduate with a B.A. from Syracuse University, where he majored in Policy Studies and obtained an M.S., Ed. from Johns Hopkins University. Under Hoang’s leadership, Foster Advocates passed five historic bills in its first five years. Hoang retired from the organization in 2023, and he continues to be a key supporter of our Foster Rights Movement.