Antoinette Conway spent over 7 years in Michigan’s foster care system.

Antoinette’s life experience personifies the concept of the heroes journey. Having lived within the foster care system for 7 years and endured the loss of many important people in her life to drug overdoses, accidents and incarceration, Antoinette is focusing her life’s future on helping others.

In spite of a tumultuous and difficult childhood, Antoinette graduated from high school achieving honor roll statues many times throughout her career there. Throughout her life, Antoinette has volunteered extensively, helping her foster care youth board with their events and activities. She has also completed 150 hours of community service, focusing on feeding the homeless in her community. In addition to these many volunteer experiences, Antoinette also donates any extra time she has to her local churches to help organize and distribute used belongings to the less fortunate in the area.

Antoinette recognizes that her difficult life experiences have given her a particularly powerful and passionate voice in the cause of improving the lives of children and young adults within the foster care system. She profoundly understands the loneliness and depression children in foster care can experience but has turned these experiences into fuel to help others. Her long-term career goal is to become a registered nurse to help as many people and families in need as possible. In the meantime, Antoinette remains a strong and articulate voice in the ongoing effort to improve the foster care system for the children and young adults.

Antoinette understands and embodies the need for young leaders within the foster care system to be key change agents of the system because their experiences bring insights no one else can. Her volunteer efforts show that she understands that her voice is strong, authentic and necessary in the process of change.

In spite of Antoinette’s difficult, heroic life journey, she is actively turning the many challenges she has endured in her life into fuel and passion to help other children who face similar difficulties. Antoinette’s work, dedication and leadership positively impacts and changes the lives of many people within her community and beyond. Antoinette is a true hero!

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2013 Outstanding Young Leaders
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