Hanna Andersson x FosterClub: Our Conversation Centering Lived Experience
During National Foster Care Month, FosterClub had the opportunity to partner with children's clothing company, Hanna Andersson, for a powerful conversation rooted in listening, learning, and honoring the expertise of young people with lived experience in foster care.
At FosterClub, we believe young people with lived experience are not just part of the conversation. They are leaders shaping how systems, brands, and communities understand childhood, belonging, and support.
This gathering reflected what becomes possible when those voices are centered intentionally.
Centering Lived Experience Leadership
FosterClub Lived Experience (LEx) Leaders joined the conversation not as subjects of discussion—but as educators, advocates, and truth-tellers. They brought forward the realities of growing up in foster care, and what it means to navigate systems that often overlook voice, identity, and stability.
As LEx Leader, Rinahda Dodd, shared:
“Don’t let the statistics disconnect you from the fact that we are real before we are a statistic…We are just us and we walk past you every day.”
This reminder grounded the entire conversation. Behind every system, program, or policy are young people living complex, deeply human experiences that cannot be reduced to numbers or narratives alone.
Another LEx Leader, Mars Presswood, reflected on what meaningful engagement actually requires from adults and organizations:
“The more that you give spaces and offer up your empathy and your gratitude and understanding, the more youth feel comfortable enough to do this kind of thing.”
This speaks to a core truth of lived experience leadership: access alone is not enough. Real impact happens when young people are met with trust, care, and a genuine willingness to listen.
Understanding “Champions of Childhood” through Lived Experience
Throughout the conversation, panelists explored what it means to support children and young people in foster care in ways that are not only well intentionend, but actually meaningful.
Hanna Andersson’s commitment to being “Champions of Childhood” was named and reflected upon in the context of lived experience.
For young people who have experienced foster care, language around childhood can carry layered meaning. LEx Leader Abi Winter offered this thought during the discussion:
“School was a sanctuary for me…whereas for other kids, school was not their sanctuary. When my whole life was so disorganized…school was a set of routine. It was a set of knowing that I would see my friends there, trusted teachers there, trusted staff.”
This perspective highlights why “childhood” is not a universal experience, and why listening to those who have lived through system involvement is essential to shaping how we define and support it.
Why Lived Experience Leadership Matters
A central theme of the conversation was the importance of being heard directly rather than being spoken about.
LEx Leader Diamond Richardson shared:
“Hearing directly from us, hearing our stories, is much more impactful and meaningful. It also gives us a chance to share our stories and not have it be shared for us like it has been multiple times throughout our experience.”
This is the foundation of FosterClub’s work: shifting from systems that speak about young people, to systems that listen to them, learn from them, and build alongside them.
Partnership in Action
Hanna Andersson’s ongoing philanthropic commitment to children and families—including their work with Foster Love and Project Lemonade—reflects a broader investment in dignity, comfort, and care for children in foster care.
Together, these efforts demonstrate what it looks like when brands move beyond awareness and into action:
Supporting tangible needs for children entering care
Investing in organizations led by lived experience
Creating space for youth voice in public conversations
Listening, learning, and evolving alongside community feedback
Moving Forward
Partnerships like this matter because they shift what is possible.
When young people with lived experience are centered as leaders—not just participants—conversations become clearer, systems become more responsive, and change becomes more grounded in truth.
As we continue through National Foster Care Month, we are grateful to Hanna Andersson for engaging in this work with openness and intention, and to our LEx Leaders for continuing to lead with honesty, courage, and care.
Because real change happens when lived experience is not only heard, but acted on.