Ava Walker experienced foster care and homelessness as a teen. As one of seven children who all went through foster care (four of her six brothers are deceased from suicide), Ava credits her survival to two coping mechanisms: daily writing and prayer. She also expresses her deeply rooted gratitude for the positive influence of people who guided, nurtured, and believed in her.
From an early age, Ava had visions of turning her pain into purpose: finding herself a stable home and becoming an author and screenwriter with the aim of helping and inspiring other foster youth to beat the odds and never lose hope.
Ava founded Beyond our Kin (BOK) to pursue her aspirations and sense of responsibilities to help foster youth who are often forgotten in our society, and to increase foster care awareness. Her story demonstrates that adversity can be overcome and foster youth can turn their disadvantages into opportunities. It just takes a village beyond our kin.
David Jepson grew up in a household that hosted foster youth. Having established and managed businesses across four continents, David played a pivotal role in building The CEO magazine – one of the world’s most high-profile and respected media brands. Throughout his tenure, David has held various management roles, starting from an entry-level sales position and ultimately becoming CEO during the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In addition to his role at The CEO magazine, David is a board advisor for Beyond Our Kin.
Interviewed by Winn Claybaugh, Ava shares the alarming, heartbreaking, and hopeful story about her personal journey in the foster care program. Her purpose in sharing her story is to bring hope, as well as much-needed resources, to support these beautiful children who have committed no crimes and yet are often treated like criminals. David’s perspective brings empathy to this topic and helps us navigate our accountability and responsibility for creating something better. With over 390,000 children in foster care across the US (33,000 in the Los Angeles area alone), Ava and David shine a spotlight on the importance of paying attention to this crisis.
RELATED LINKS
Website: https://www.beyondourkin.org