How Christopher Espino is supporting former foster youth

When Cristopher Espino was a child, he briefly lived in a car with his mom and two sisters. It was a difficult experience for his family. But one of his most vivid memories is of his mother's generosity. One night, she spotted an unhoused person on the sidewalk and pulled the car over to offer them the family's blanket.

"Why would you give away my blanket?" Espino remembered asking her.

Her answer has stayed with him ever since. "You might not realize this now," she told him. "But we have the privilege of having a car."

That experience was one of his first introductions to what service really meant - something that's less about title and more about the unwavering commitment to seeing and supporting others, even during challenging times.

"Service is an altruistic act rooted in a sincere and unwavering passion for uplifting and empowering others," Espino said, "for it is through such support that individuals are able to grow into the fullest expression of themselves."

For Espino, who graduates from UCLA this month with a bachelor's in education and social transformation and a minor in labor studies, that lesson has become his life's mission.

Finding stability through student government

Espino's path to UCLA wasn't straightforward. He moved frequently throughout his childhood, transferring schools often as his family navigated unstable housing, and spent about a year in foster care.

In each new school, he found his footing through student government. By the time he reached high school, Espino had been student body president at many schools and served as the student board member for Tustin Unified School District, where he led advocacy efforts around ethnic studies and education policy.

"I knew from the bottom of my heart that service and government were my calling," he said.

It wasn't until his ninth-grade English teacher suggested UC Berkeley as an option that Espino even considered applying to college. He was admitted to both UC Berkeley and UCLA. Los Angeles won out.

"I was cognizant of the fact that Los Angeles County had a lot of opportunities, and it also had the largest child welfare system in the country," he said.

At UCLA, Espino focused on combining his two biggest interests: politics and education. Outside the classroom, he served as an Academic Affairs commissioner for UCLA Student Government, overseeing a staff and an office he expanded from 30 to 60 student leaders to address the systemic inequities present at UCLA, with a mandate he describes simply as making "academic equity a tangible reality."

One of his proudest achievements in the role was launching a student ambassadorship program with the UCLA Registrar's Office. This initiative gives students a formal chance to advocate for their academic needs at an institutional level.

"That is something systemic," he said. "Students will still have that space long after I'm gone."

Espino's passion and motivation have been recognized by multiple nationally competitive scholar programs. He traveled to Washington, D.C., last summer for the Phi Beta Kappa Key into Public Service conference and as a delegate to the Congressional Leadership Academy with the National Foster Youth Institute, where he shadowed members of Congress, including Jim Costa.

In addition to his advocacy work, Espino spent time traveling on his summer voyage thanks to his Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship. The award for students dedicated to public service provides leadership training, financial aid and a stipend to pursue a summer work-travel experience. Espino traveled through Europe, visiting Paris, Milan, Athens and Crete, volunteering with local organizations along the way. These experiences brought the Global Livingston Institutes' philosophy of "listen, think and act" into focus for him.

"There's a lot of things you can learn in the classroom that are critical to bringing about systemic change, but the most real experiences a person can ever have is by being immersed in a culture that challenges everything you've known to be true," Espino said. "That was my experience abroad; listening across differences, thinking alongside communities on how to co-create and to enact change, and then acting collaboratively to bring about that change."

Building a mentorship model for foster youth

Espino was awarded the Strauss Scholarship last spring, which, in addition to a scholarship, provides funding for students to pursue their own project ideas. He used the funds to build the Fostering Connections Mentorship Program at UCLA, an initiative that connects transition-aged youth (16-25) exiting foster care with undergraduate students to help them envision a college experience.

The pilot program launched this year, matching 10 mentors with 10 mentees. Traditional mentorship programs often fail systems-involved youth due to their deep-rooted distrust of institutions. Fostering Connections strives to be different by building a shared understanding for both mentors and mentees, with all participants learning about child welfare, trauma-informed care, college financing and other topics.

"Success has really looked like watching the mentees step into their own agency and leadership, really develop and hone those self-advocacy skills that are critical to navigating one's lifelong journey," Espino said.

He plans to formalize the organization by pursuing 501(c)(3) status so the program continues to support systems-involved youth long after he graduates.

After commencement, Espino is relocating to the East Coast to pursue two master's degrees. First, a master of public administration at the University of Pennsylvania, inspired by witnessing how siloed LA agencies and nonprofits allow vulnerable youth to fall through the cracks. He will then head to Harvard University to complete a master's in education with a focus on education policy and analysis, continuing the equity-centered work he began at UCLA. He hopes to return to Los Angeles to work in the community he loves.

"I'm now at a point in my life where I'm very privileged," Espino said. "I remember the hindrances that I faced as a kid, and I want to make sure that every child, every vulnerable population, and historically marginalized group has the ability to define and achieve success in their own words and on their own terms."