After graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology in 2015, I immediately set out to leverage my skills and education to empower underserved communities. I spent the next 3 years working for Stanford University's Lifting the Bar project, which gave me the opportunity to work with youth transitioning from juvenile detention back to public school in Oakland Unified School District. My daily interactions with these youth only reinforced my desire to support community-responsive programs which serve those who are systematically disadvantaged by our society. Upon successful completion of our grant-funded research, I relocated to Los Angeles and worked with Imoyase Community Support Services on a team which evaluates the Ready to Rise project - a $12.5 million initiative designed to promote and support organizations which focus on youth development. Often, organizations struggle with the evaluation portion of the grant process, as they're frequently more focused on supporting the youth they are serving rather than detailed data modeling and analysis. I found joy in making the data reporting process as easy and straightforward as possible for community-based organizations in our initiative, which allowed them to focus on what matters most - providing holistic and supportive services to youth which help them lead healthy and full lives.In August of 2021, I returned to my hometown of Indianapolis to contribute my experience to the community that I love. I soon found a home at Foster Success, where I am thrilled to be building the Workforce Development program, which connects former foster youth aged 18-25 to valuable training and experiential learning experiences to kickstart their career growth and success.