Karie Ward, Director, Fostering Success Michigan

Karie Ward serves as the Executive Director of Fostering Success Michigan, a statewide collective impact initiative that began in 2012 and focuses on postsecondary access and success for youth with experience in foster care. Karie works to support the network of campuses, community partners, youth, and statewide agencies that make up the education to career pipeline for students in Michigan.

She began working for FSM as an Intern and Graduate Assistant while attending WMU’s School of Social Work, graduating with an MSW in 2014. Karie has held many roles at FSM and has produced over 70 webinars, 32 podcasts, and facilitated 15 statewide network events. Additionally, she has led the FSM Network through two organizational transitions to ensure long term sustainability for the initiative.

karie@educatetomorrow.org

Dr. Steve Rios, Researcher and Senior Director, Positive Pathways Program

Dr. Steve J. Rios, a long-time mentor and consultant with Educate Tomorrow, he serves as the Senior Director of Positive Pathways, a contract with the Florida Department of Children and Families.  Dr. Rios helps to support a network of campus and community based advocates for young adults coming from the foster care system striving to obtain a post-secondary credential. Dr. Rios holds a doctorate in Adult Education and Human Resource Development from Florida International University and a master’s degree in Public Administration from Florida Atlantic University. Along with his wife Nohemi, Dr. Rios owns Rios Research & Evaluation, which provides data analysis for charter schools and Broward County Public Schools programs.

pathways@educatetomorrow.org

Michael D. Davis-Thomas, FSM Ambassador Advocate

Michael D. Davis Thomas is an activist, mentor, public speaker and policy scholar who aims to run for office—and ultimately for President. He currently works for River Jordan, a nonprofit focused on providing transitional housing and support for youth with experience in foster care.

Michael serves on over 14 Boards that focus on enacting change and reform in the child welfare system including the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Child Welfare Advisory Board, the State of Michigan Child Protective Reform Committee, and the Whaley Children’s Center Youth Advisory Board.
Michael holds leadership positions in the Michigan Chapter for the National Fostering Youth Institute and Michigan Opportunities Initiative.

He is currently attending Mott Community College, studying political science and public administration. He aims to further his education at the University of Michigan Flint.

mdavisthomas@mcc.edu

Brina Williams, FSM BSW Intern and Ambassador Advocate

Brina Williams is a senior at Western Michigan University, pursuing her Bachelor’s in Social Work with a minor in Political Science. She is currently a Seita Scholar at WMU and is an alumnus of Fostering Stars at Lansing Community College. She is a member of the honor societies Tau Sigma and Phi Alpha, as well as an alumni of the honor society Phi Theta Kappa. Brina is also a graduate of Lansing Community College with an Associate degree in General Studies. After graduating with her BSW, Brina plans to pursue an Advanced Standing MSW program.

Brina is the President of Ingham County’s Michigan Youth Opportunities Initiative and is a part of the Continuous Quality Improvement Focus Group for Foster Care in Ingham County. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Association of Children’s Mental Health for almost three years, is a member of Michigan’s Statewide Youth Advisory Board for foster care and is a member of the Leadership Corp for the National Foster Youth Institute Michigan Chapter.

In her downtime, Brina enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and her dog, Samson. She enjoys being active and being outside, going for long bike rides every chance she gets. Brina enjoys painting and writing poetry; she’s had art in many of the National Association of Mental Illness Lansing’s fundraisers. She would like to one day publish some of her poetry, along with a memoir of her life.

Brina is passionate about using her experiences to create much needed change within the foster care system. “I’d like to work with foster care children,” she said, “because that is what I know.” Brina Williams for Bridge Magazine.

Brina is currently completing her BSW internship at Fostering Success Michigan and has served as an FSM Ambassador for almost three years.

fsm@fosteringsuccessmichigan.com

Brea Buchan, Changemaker

Brea Buchan is a junior at Grand Valley State University, pursuing her Bachelor’s in Social Work. Brea aspires to work in the foster care system to make a difference in the lives of at-risk children, and break the cycle of abuse and neglect in their lives. She is currently a Fostering Success Michigan Changemaker at GVSU through Educate Tomorrow.

Brea has conquered several obstacles along the way including being a ward of the state, having experience in foster care, and having been adopted. Those obstacles did not stop her from achieving many of her goals and dreams.

To Brea’s knowledge she is the first in her biological family to attend college. When she is not at school she is a full time server at Northside Pub in North Muskegon during the fall and winter and The Gate House on Mackinac Island during the summer.

Brea believes hard work and dedication is the key to success and in helping her to achieve her goals. In her free time, Brea enjoys spending time with her family, camping, traveling, and experiencing new cultures.

Tyler "Mack" MacAvoy, Changemaker

Tyler “Mack” MacAvoy is a non-traditional engineering student at Grand Valley State University. He decided to take advantage of higher education programs while he was experiencing housing instability and homelessness, and he is thrilled to share his discovery and knowledge of these resources with other GVSU students who have similar experiences through the Changemaker program with Fostering Success Michigan. In addition to full-time studenthood and being a Changemaker, Mack also tutors K-12 students across the state of Michigan, and spends his evenings working part-time in a warehouse.

In his free time, Mack enjoys sitting down, petting his cats, listening to music, and playing his banjo (usually not simultaneously).

He aims to complete his bachelor’s degree in 2025, and intends to use his extensive experiences in housing instability and homelessness to promote awareness and change for students who follow.

Khaled Rahman, FSM Ambassador

My name is Khaled, I am from Bangladesh where I grew up with a different ethnicity and a lovely family. I still remember waking up in the morning and I asked my mom where is my tea with the big cup, and I don’t drink tea if it is not in the big cup, which I am trying to say when I was young I always wanted more than others. As I am growing up, sometimes people ask me what do you want to be when I grow up? Then I etched my forehead and started thinking but my answer always came out as “I don’t know”. Because I was young and I didn’t think about the future yet. So after I turned sixteen my life was about to change.

I decided to move to the United States and there were a few reasons for moving to the United States, one of the reasons is to earn a better education. Because the United States has good education, I can get a better degree and get a better job in the future. And when I was moving to the United States, I learned so many things, I experienced a lot of stuff. I learned about different types of people, I learned about different cultures, I learned multiple languages, I have experienced that group of Gangs came and one guy pointed a gun at me and took my money, my phone, and my backpack left me in with nothing I had no money no phone and no food but still I was able to get out from this situation. That was the most challenging thing I ever experienced.

After a long and most challenging journey then finally I came to the US but that was more challenging for me. I don’t speak English, I have no family, no friends and I felt lost and alone. But my attorney sent me to foster care, then I slowly learned to speak English, I learned more about myself and became more productive and mature.
“I have experienced so many things in my life and one thing I realized is that every problem has a solution. Maybe it would be difficult but I always have hope.”