Massachusetts Network of Foster Care Alumni
This October, Massachusetts Nework of Foster Care Alumni (MassNFCA) joins Selfless Love Foundation to elevate the voices of individuals impacted by foster care for Youth Voice Month. Listening to their experiences and ideas is crucial to creating a child welfare system that supports the people it serves and helps them to thrive.
This year's theme is "Youth Voice Changes the World"- so let's learn from lived expert leaders who have used their voices to change the world! Our panelists will discuss their advocacy journeys, their advice to other lived expert leaders and advocates, and lessons they have learned along the way.
If you are a lived expert looking to hear about others' experiences in advocacy- join us!
If you are a professional or student wanting to learn more about lived expert advocacy, lived expert leadership, and the lived expert movement- join us!
If you have a mix of professional and lived experience and want to hear from others about their advocacy journeys in this field- join us!
About our panelists:
Divina Cordeiro is a Junior at UMass Amherst, double majoring in Social Thought and Political Economy & Journalism. Divina has eight years of on-and-off experience in the child welfare system, and has transformed their grief and struggle in the system into advocacy for a better world, for all, today.
Lily Ford's passion lies within her advocacy work where she wants to fix the foster care system for youth to come. Especially because she was in care for five years. Advocacy work was first mentioned when she was 16 by an adult supporter and she has loved it ever since. It first started as Speak, Rhode Island's board, and has evolved into a lot more. Including NEYC (New England Youth Coalition), FosterClub, QIC-EY( advocating for permanency), and CWAC( Rhode Island's Child and Wellbeing Advisory Board). Lily was even this year's Foster Club all-star intern from Rhode Island where she combined forces with other lived experience leaders to discuss problems in foster care on the national level. Some of her accomplishments include testifying at the Rhode Island State House for an increase to the DCYF budget & making a speech at Adoption Rhode Island's donation gala in front of 300 people! Lily loves doing all things outside including hiking, camping, and traveling. One of her favorite places is Georgia, where she has family. Her coolest fun fact is that she played football in high school. Her team went undefeated and won the state championship. In the summertime, Lily owns and operates her own landscaping business.
Ashley Garcia-Rivera is passionate about driving systemic change in child welfare and mental health for children and youth in foster care and adoption. As a Policy and Advocacy Fellow at the Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.), she advocates for mental health support for youth and families impacted by adoption, kinship, and foster care.
Her work is grounded in lived expertise, including her own foster care and adoption journey, which she shares as a member of the AdoptUSKids speakers bureau. In 2012, she founded Suitcases of Hope, a charity that provides essential personal items and duffel bags to children entering foster care. This initiative aims to eliminate the indignity of using trash bags for belongings, offering hope and dignity to vulnerable youth.
Ashley holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Philosophy from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is committed to advocacy and elevating the voices of those with lived experience in the child welfare system.
Join us virtually on Tuesday, October 22nd, from 6-7:30 PM for this exciting panel discussion.