WHY WE STARTED

In 2019, our founders connected while doing advocacy work on juvenile justice reform at the National level. Aaron was and is currently incarcerated, and Kristen has lived experience in the juvenile justice and foster care systems. Both faced trauma during advocacy, spiraling and burning out without proper support. Feeling the need for change, they created a plan focusing on what young advocates like them needed – recognizing their struggles, addressing their well-being, and creating a space for healing. Together, they turned their experiences into a mission to make advocacy a more liberating and transformative journey.

The Lost & Found Institute was founded in 2023 in honor of the young people who often feel lost within systems, especially after experiencing trauma. Our founders recognize how challenging it is to navigate life after so much pain. We hope to help people find themselves and their purpose by walking alongside them on their journey of liberation, healing, and transformation outside of the systems and structures that once confined them. We also recognize the pain and heartache that can come with being an advocate and organizer due to non profits who are not prepared to work with lived experience experts. Our hope is that people with lived experience will no longer have to endure what our founders did as young advocates. At The Lost & Found Institute we offer a safe space for young leaders to truly discover themselves and transition out of survival mode, the state they are often in after leaving systems and from the impact of the non profit industrial complex.