On Friday, Oct. 26, Batten’s Office of Student Services hosted the annual undergraduate leadership retreat at the Boar’s Head Resort. During the retreat, Batten students majoring in public policy and leadership sharpened their culinary skills during an Iron Chef cooking competition and learned about the pitfalls of the foster care system with their keynote speaker, Sixto Cancel.
Cancel embodies what it means to be an agent of change. His award-winning non-profit company, Think of Us, uses innovative technology to improve the lives of youth in foster care. Just as Salesforce Advisor Link (SAL) puts Batten students at the center of the academic experience, Think of Us aims to do the same for foster-care youth ages 14-26, giving them the tools and resources needed to make a successful transition to adult life. By creating a web and mobile life-coaching platform, Think of Us ensures that foster youth are aware of all of the steps they have to take to navigate the foster-care system and that they are prepared to live independently after they turn 18 and are on their own.
Cancel grew up in the foster care system and is acutely aware of the system’s flaws. Having been in and out of the system since he was 11-months old, Cancel has witnessed first-hand how the social system fails to nurture young people. He spoke candidly about his past abuses, his forays in policymaking and its drawbacks, as well as the setbacks he encountered during the infancy of his company, Think of Us.
For Cancel, change is not always easy, but by creating something new rather than trying to improve the defunct foster care system, there stands a better chance of success. “If you create something that has so much value then it will eventually make your competition obsolete.”
This has been his approach with Think of Us, and one that he encouraged Batten students to carry with them as they embark on their careers—whether it be in public policy or social entrepreneurship or even starting their own company.
