Ryan Young
4 years in Foster Care
He/him/his
Ryan Young resides in Phoenix, AZ, has spent five years in Arizona’s foster care and extended foster care systems and was originally an orphan from the Ukraine. He is currently studying at Phoenix College to obtain his Associate’s Degree in Political Science and was accepted to attend Arizona State University for his Bachelor’s Degree in Public Service and Public Policy with the concentration on Social Service Delivery in the Fall 2023. He works as a Peer Mentor for Arizona’s Children Association mentoring young people in foster care. He has been a member of the Arizona Department of Child Safety’s Youth Empowerment Council for the past three years and is currently serving as President. He has been a critical voice on the City of Phoenix’s Youth and Education Commission for the past two years raising the need and helping find solutions towards raising the national standards for special populations such as the foster care community.
Ryan was appointed in April 2022 by Governor Ducey to serve on the Governor’s Council on Child Safety and Family Empowerment and was accepted into the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute’s 2022 Foster Youth Internship program where he will be spending the summer 2022 on Capitol Hill advocating for foster youth and their families. As a member of the 2021 FosterClub’s FosterEquality LEx Leadership team, he continues to advance the work of the LGBTQIA and Two-Spirited families and children involved with the child welfare system.
Mr. Young has received numerous awards in recognition of his direct advocacy efforts for children, youth and families and received FosterClub’s 2022 Outstanding Young Leader award. His passion continues to be evident towards solving preventable issues such as improving educational outcomes, preventing homelessness and most importantly; uplifting the voices, experiences and expertise of foster youth and families in co-design with system partners. In his free time, he loves to spend time with chosen family and friends, roller skate and loves to travel.