First Star is Looking Forward to
What's in Store for 2020
2019: An Unprecedented Year for First Star
We're reminded of the power of our First Star community and the resiliency of our youth. These are a few highlights that you helped make possible!
New Members to our First Star Board of Directors
With an eye towards diversity and inclusion, and in an effort to add experts in their fields to our governing body, we added three new board members in 2019.

Raul Cardenas, Jr. PhD (left) President & CEO at J.K. Mullen High School in Denver, CO, has helped create and implement two charter high schools that serve predominantly high-risk students and has dedicated his career to ensuring people have an opportunity to access higher education and earn a degree.

Judy Hackett (middle) Founding Partner at Bryant Stibel brings over 25 years of marketing, advertising, and brand development experience to First Star and has been instrumental in our establishment of the new First Star Kent State University Academy.

Kathleen Strottman (right) is an expert on policies related to child welfare. As an advisor to Senator Mary Landrieu, she worked to pass key pieces of legislation including the Intercountry Adoption Act, Child Citizenship Act, Adoption Tax Credit, and Family Court Act.
First Star Student Board Member
and Student Advisory Committee
This year we have added a First Star student to the Board, who will represent the collective voices of our scholars across the country, making sure their needs, desires, and concerns are always represented. In addition to this important position, we've also created a Student Advisory Committee, which is comprised of First Star juniors and seniors from across all of our Academies. They meet monthly with members of the national team to discuss various issues impacting the First Star Network that will then be presented to the First Star Board through the Student Board Member.

We are thrilled to announce Fatuma Johnson
as our 2019-20 First Star Student Board Member.

Fatuma Johnson

Fatuma, a junior at our First Star University of Utah Academy and originally a refugee from Somalia, cares deeply about First Star and the First Star mission. With plans to pursue a career in nursing, she is already a strong leader at the Utah Academy and within her local community. We are thrilled to welcome her as a student representative who will help elevate First Star Academies across the country.

Our First Star #2020Vision
There's lots of excitement in store for the year ahead

California Foster Youth Education Summit

April 2020

Students, Alumni, and Peer Mentors from our UCLA Academy, along with First Star's Student Board Member Fatuma Johnson, will be presenting at this year's summit, which is an opportunity to discuss the unique approach that First Star takes to achieving youth engagement and why our youth remain connected after they've graduated from the program.

First Star National Conference
September 9-11, 2020

In February 2019, First Star hosted its National Conference in Washington, DC, which was an important opportunity for our Academy Directors, university liaisons, and foster care community partners to cultivate and expand First Star’s imprint on the national foster care conversation. We will be continuing that momentum this year as we once again invite our Academy Directors and partners to join us at UCLA's campus to discuss and share best practices on how to effectively deal with the critical issues facing transition-aged foster youth.

First Star Alumni Program

The First Star Alumni Program is extending our support for our Academy graduates as they navigate higher education and adulthood. Our goal is to provide support and guidance throughout their college careers by keeping track of how our Alumni are excelling post-high school graduation. The Alumni Program provides responsive services, a national resource toolkit, an interactive social media presence, and celebrates important moments in the lives of our Alumni.

More than 60 seniors will be graduating this Spring, making the Class of 2020 the largest First Star has had to date!

During the 2019 Holiday Season the First Star Alumni Program hosted four holiday parties for Alumni to reunite and reconnect with their First Star Family across the country! By providing an opportunity for our Alumni to reconnect with their peers and Academy Directors, the Alumni Program is experiencing heightened engagement that will carry over into the upcoming graduating class. The Alumni program has quickly become a part of the First Star culture!

Peer Mentor Engagement
Our Peer Mentors play an integral part of every Academy program. Through their shared lived experience as former foster youth or first-generation college students, they have the most relevant life experience to connect to our students, helping them manage the transition between high school and higher education. The effect on these young adults has been profound. Not only has the job within the Academy provided summer housing, income, job skills and opportunity, our peer mentors have developed leadership, communication, presentation and management skills as well as advancement opportunities. Upon completing their degrees, peer mentors have found full-time employment through connections with the Academy.
Two New National Team Members to Join in 2020

Our national team is growing!


Thanks to our expanded fundraising efforts, we will be hiring a Director of Academy Engagement, West Coast, who will help implement programs and projects with a focus on our California expansion efforts, and a Director of Development, who will help us generate new financial support and fortify our long-term financial sustainability.

We are expanding more than ever this year and need your help! Even the smallest gift can make a huge difference.
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In the News

National



Every year, more than 20,000 teenagers age out of the foster care system. Within four years, about 5,000 of them are homeless. A new federal program called Foster Youth for Independence ([link removed]) aims to help those young adults. The Foster Youth for Independence program teaches former foster youth ages 18 to 24 professional and life skills, and puts rent within reach. Participants typically pay 30% of their income towards rent, with the Foster Youth for Independence program covering the rest. More than $2 million has gone out so far to help nearly 250 former foster kids.

Iowa



Linda Herring (pictured in pink) always wanted a big family. But she never imagined that she would foster more than 600 children ([link removed]) and turn her home into a safe haven where every child was given shelter, food, clothing, and most importantly, endless amounts of love. Now 75 years old, Herring has been fostering children for nearly five decades. Herring was known by everyone in Johnson County for never turning away a child, no matter their age, gender, or special needs, and would regularly travel to pick up foster children who needed a home.



West Virginia

Delegates on the West Virginia House Judiciary Committee passed a bill to create a foster child’s bill of rights ([link removed]) . As part of House Bill 4092, foster care officials would have to keep siblings together to the best of their ability, respect a foster child’s religious rights and ensure the child has access to everything from proper medical care to “adequate fitting” clothes. Additionally, the bill creates a foster parent’s bill of rights and a database of foster parents to make child placement easier, update out-of-state travel regulations for foster families and hold guardians ad litem to a higher standard.

Kobe Bryant 1978-2020

Kobe was an inspiration to all of our students. He embodied the perseverance and fortitude needed to overcome any obstacle that stands in the way of achieving your dreams. His work on and off the court will be felt throughout our city of Los Angeles and across the entire world for decades to come.
Stay Connected!
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