As a high school student, David Inglish wasn鈥檛 interested in attending college.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 think it was for me,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s a foster youth it seemed like something that was completely unattainable.鈥�
Fast forward a few years. Today, not only is Inglish a senior social work major at the 91探花, he and fellow 91探花undergraduate Daniel Lugo are traveling the world as advocates for improving foster care systems, both in the United States and abroad.
Together they volunteer with the (IFCA), a small nonprofit organization based in Seattle whose mission is to better child welfare systems in the U.S. and Japan. Inglish and Lugo, a junior political science major, are members of IFCA鈥檚 team of foster care alumni who share their stories and offer policy suggestions based on their own experiences in the system.
Their work has included trips to Japan where they have conducted workshops for foster youth and presented research on foster care in the United States to politicians, scholars, researchers and professionals. Inglish also helped develop a bilingual blog project for foster youth.
Both students learned about IFCA through their involvement with the . Housed in the Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity and led by Melissa Raap, it provides college access and academic support for prospective or current 91探花students who are youth and alumni of foster care.
And it was through the Champions Program that Inglish and Lugo found 91探花in the first place.
During those days in high school when Inglish thought college was unattainable, his foster parents encouraged him to attend the Future Champions Invitational, a two-day college readiness program for foster youth on the 91探花campus. As soon as he got home, Inglish started working on his 91探花application.
Lugo learned about the Champions Program during a 91探花campus visit with a case worker in high school. That was when he met Raap, who offered support during his application process.
The rest is history.
Both have found their involvement with Champions a huge benefit to their overall Husky Experience, especially when they were getting familiar with college life.
鈥淚t really helped me get adjusted to campus and have a community that finally offered that feeling of 鈥業鈥檓 not different,鈥欌�� Inglish said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have to explain that I鈥檓 a foster youth, they already know me. And then from there, I ended up getting more involved as a leader.鈥�
Indeed he did. Not only did Inglish get connected to international child welfare advocacy with IFCA, he is a peer mentor for the College Success Foundation鈥檚 Passport Navigator Program and founded the College Success Foundation Club for students on campus. He was also the recipient of the 2015 91探花Carlson Leadership Award.
Lugo is keeping busy as well. In addition to his work with IFCA, he is spending the winter quarter in Olympia interning for two members of the Washington State House of Representatives, Michelle Caldier and Steve Bergquist.
Therefore, it was no surprise when both students were selected to represent IFCA on their own and take solo international trips this past November.
鈥淚 am just really proud of how brave they are,鈥� said Raap. 鈥淭hey are really great examples of what happens when you can get good coaching and encouragement. It鈥檚 great to see them become such phenomenal leaders.鈥�
Inglish traveled to Argentina to give a presentation at a conference attended by professionals from all over South America. The topic of his speech centered on how the U.S. is reacting to the surge in alumni of care working in policy and creating advocacy and advocacy programs. He also shared information about the latest foster care policy and legislation that have passed in the U.S.
鈥淚t was one of the highest honors for me because every day I try to be the best leader that I can be,鈥� Inglish said of the trip. 鈥淟eading is partially about creating an impact but also helping others create an impact. That was one of the greatest opportunities for me to do that.鈥�
Lugo returned to Japan to attend a speech given by Prime Minister Shinz贸 Abe and met the former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, John V. Roos.
鈥淚 got to talk to him (Roos) about what I can do in America to better the foster care system and his answer was to do things like the internship I鈥檓 doing right now,鈥� Lugo said. 鈥淎nd to take advantage of every opportunity that I can to become a better leader.鈥�
It is also no surprise that both students plan to continue this advocacy work in their future professions. Inglish is applying to enter the master鈥檚 in public administration program in the 91探花Evans School of Public Affairs. He eventually hopes to work in policy to 鈥渨ork on the more macro ideas with larger communities and create change from there.鈥�
Lugo would like to attend law school and build on the current experience he鈥檚 getting in Olympia.
鈥淚 want to work really hard to become someone who is an effective leader, who writes good laws and actually helps people,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat is the main goal. I want to help people someday.鈥�
It鈥檚 evident that Lugo, and Inglish, are already helping people. They are creating a world of good.