FosterClub's 2026 Outstanding Young Leader Award honors advocates from twenty-four states, among them a firefighter, a national board trustee and the founder of underground schools for Afghan girls

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Fifty young people with foster care experience have been named recipients of FosterClub's 2026 Outstanding Young Leader Award, the national network's annual recognition of young advocates working to change the systems they grew up in. The honorees, ages 18 to 26, come from twenty-four states and were celebrated at a national ceremony on September 16. The award recognizes the leadership, service and contributions of young people who have experienced foster care — and the value their lived experience brings to communities and systems.

Among them is Kubra Mohammadi, age 22, who spent 3 years in foster care after coming to the United States from Afghanistan in 2021 after the Taliban banned girls from attending school. She founded the Delaram Foundation, which now provides an education to more than 1,000 Afghan girls shut out of classrooms, reaching them through underground schools, house-to-house classes and online learning. She has carried the case for girls' education to an international audience, including a speech at the United Nations, and studies political science at the University of Massachusetts Boston. "I believe that the greatest way to thank the people who invested in me is to invest in others," said Mohammadi.

In New Jersey, Tawanna Brown, age 23 and having 5 years in foster care, serves as the inaugural Joseph R. Bankoff Young Adult Trustee on the Board of Trustees of the National CASA/GAL Association for Children. As a full voting member, Tawanna brings the perspective of young adults with lived experience to the highest level of the organization's leadership. She began speaking publicly about the child welfare system at 15, earned her Seton Hall University degree in three years, helped develop New Jersey's landmark Siblings' Bill of Rights and is headed to law school. "I want to use every room I enter, every degree I earn, and every platform I am given to open doors for someone else," said Brown.

In Kansas, Tanner Herskowitz, age 20, spent five years in foster care before trusted adults from his own community welcomed him into their family and later adopted him. He now serves with his local fire department, where he has earned an Ellis County Lifesaving Award, studies criminal justice at Fort Hays State University and sits on the Kansas Youth Advisory Council, the state advisory board of young people with foster care experience. "A small act of kindness can have a greater impact than we may ever realize," Herskowitz said. "Sometimes a simple conversation or helping someone get where they need to go can completely change the direction of their day or even their life."

"These fifty young people demonstrate the power of lived experience in action," said Celeste Bodner, Founder and Executive Director of FosterClub. "When young people who have experienced foster care are given meaningful opportunities to lead and contribute, they bring insight, ideas and determination that can make communities — and the foster care system itself — stronger."

Outstanding Young Leader recipients are welcomed into FosterClub's national network of lived experience leaders, receiving access to additional training, opportunities for continued professional development, and support to champion their causes. FosterClub is the national network for young people in foster care, leading efforts to connect, educate, inspire, and represent children and youth in and from the system. The organization empowers young people to improve the lives of their peers through advocacy, system change, and direct service.

Meet FosterClub's 2026 Outstanding Young Leaders and discover the remarkable ways young people with foster care experience are leading change in their communities and across the country. Visit FosterClub.org to learn more about this year's honorees and find ways you can help young people in foster care thrive.

Media Contact

Chris Hindbaugh, FosterClub, 1 5037171552 104, chris@fosterclub.com, FosterClub.org

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SOURCE FosterClub