Meet the team at Foster Advocates

Osahon Akpata-Tanious (she/her)

Executive Director

  • Osahon Akpata-Tanious brings a diverse background in finance and public service to Foster Advocates. Growing up in New York City, she saw firsthand the stark difference between the haves and have-nots, and as a Foster, she learned that these disparities are deep-rooted and embedded into the very fabric of how systems are created. Her interests lie at the intersection of participatory policymaking,economic liberation, mental wellness, safeguarding cultural and spiritual practices, and disability advocacy. Osahon is passionate about fostering connections between professional environments and community experiences to drive holistic growth and development.

    Osahon is a first-generation master’s graduate with a MPP from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, where she concentrated on Public and Nonprofit Leadership and Management and Public Finance, with a minor in Integrative Leadership. During her time at the Humphrey School, she was president of the Student Government of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and a recipient of the 2025 Student Leadership Award. She also completed a certification in Disability Policy and Services through the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota, and was a 2025 MNLEND Fellow. Before this, Osahon spent five years in Corporate and Nonprofit Banking and most recently worked in the Budget Office for a local municipality. Prior to this, Osahon completed a B.A. in Political Science from the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, The City College of New York. 

    Osahon lives in Brooklyn Park with her partner and their dog Oscar, a few reptiles, and more plants than they can count. She enjoys spending time with her community, exploring the beauty of Minnesota summers, and listening to live music of all genres.

    Email: osahon@fosteradvocates.org

Ariana Chamoun (she/her)

Director of Systems Change

  • Ariana advances Fosters’ vision for change through crafting and implementing policy solutions, organizing Fosters for statewide advocacy, and engaging with legislative partners.

    Born and raised in southern Minnesota, Ariana spent 4 years in foster care. While her biggest struggle had been with reunification and maintaining her own cultural identity, she found refuge in her education. With the help of her fierce support system, she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in International Relations, Political Science, and Spanish from Saint Cloud State University.

    After college, Ariana had the honor of interning with Foster Club, an opportunity that led to her passion for advocacy work. If she is not out running, traveling, at yoga, or gardening, you can find her somewhere outdoors with her partner and their 2 dogs, Harry & Jaxx.

    Email: ariana@fosteradvocates.org

Elena Leomi (she/her)

Director of Movement Building

  • Elena focuses on internal team structures, building capacity for leadership programs and research, and supporting the growth of our statewide Foster network.

    Elena started facilitating youth programs in high school and has a range of experience designing and managing youth programs focused on healthy development and sexuality, leadership, violence prevention, as well as racial and gender equity.

    She has seen the impact of letting young people lead, and values creating settings where their expertise and voices are heard. Elena is passionate about youth participatory research and advocacy. She brings those values to Foster Advocates while building out our leadership programs, including the annual Fellowship, and research platform.

    Elena holds an MSW and MPH from UC Berkeley and consults on research projects around youth civic engagement and modeling consent in after-school programs. In her spare time, she likes to play in her garden, cook spicy food, and explore the outdoors with her spouse. 

    Email: elena@fosteradvocates.org

Donté Wilkins (he/him)

Operations Manager

  • Donté supports our organization and Foster community through a focus on organizational systems, resources, evaluation, and events.

    Donté’s work experience spans a decade as a career and college coordinator and includes program management, non profit development, partnership engagement and advocacy.

    Born in Germany, Donté and his family relocated back to Chicago a year after his birth, subsequent to his dad finishing his stint in the Army. Growing up in Chicago, Donté enjoyed being a role model for his younger twin siblings. He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was the first in his family to graduate. In his free time, Donté loves to golf, play rec softball and soccer, watch his Chicago sports teams (go White Sox!) and appreciates spending quality time with friends and family.

Whitney Behle (she/her)

Community Engagement Manager

  • Whitney focuses on housing stability for Fosters, starting with connection, empathy, and non-judgement. Whitney hopes that Fosters will be empowered to reach their goals while providing space to develop self and sustainability, express agency, and widen connections.

    Whitney has engaged in over eight years of advocacy and support work with youth and families in various settings. Her fiery passion for uplighting others comes from her own journey within child welfare, with formal placement in care as a pre-teen until aging-out. Whitney understands firsthand the impact of housing instability, domestic violence, and the juvenile justice system. She believes we all have a spark inside that may need a little help igniting to disrupt cycles, heal, and empower each other to keep swimming.

    Whitney graduated from UW-Eau Claire, Wisconsin with a B.A. in Psychology and a Child Welfare certificate. In her free time, she enjoys weight training, crystals, music, hiking, podcasts, cooking, and baking.

    Email: whitney@fosteradvocates.org

Sarah Blouin (she/her)

Education Program Manager

  • Sarah, a lifelong Minnesotan, supports Fosters in navigating major life transitions by focusing on strengths, sharing resources, cultivating skills, and building connections. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and a M.A. in Counseling Psychology from the University of St. Thomas.

    With nearly two decades of experience working with youth and young adults, Sarah specializes in guiding Fosters through school-to-life transitions, drawing on her background in education, mentoring, and career coaching. Sarah values holistic support, tailoring services to each Foster’s unique aspirations, and creating pathways that empower them to achieve their goals.

    Outside of work, Sarah enjoys exploring the outdoors—camping, paddleboarding, and gardening. She loves spending time with her family, tackling home projects, and expanding her knowledge across a range of topics from current events to brain development. You can often find her cheering on the Golden Gophers and Vikings in the fall.

Meet Our Board of Directors

Jillian Gross Fortgang (she/her)

Board Chair

  • Jillian Gross Fortgang is a lifelong educator and coach with over 20 years of experience in equity focused nonprofit organizational leadership, teaching and facilitation, and collaborative research. She specializes in holding space with loving accountability that allows individuals and groups to do their inner work as the foundation for transformational change. She is a continuous learner who earned her PhD in Higher Education with a concentration in Organizational Management and is a certified ICF Coach, IDI Qualified Administrator, yoga teacher, and mentor with Racial Justice from the Heart.

    Osahon is a first-generation master’s graduate with a MPP from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, where she concentrated on Public and Nonprofit Leadership and Management and Public Finance, with a minor in Integrative Leadership. During her time at the Humphrey School, she was president of the Student Government of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and a recipient of the 2025 Student Leadership Award. She also completed a certification in Disability Policy and Services through the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota, and was a 2025 MNLEND Fellow. Before this, Osahon spent five years in Corporate and Nonprofit Banking and most recently worked in the Budget Office for a local municipality. Prior to this, Osahon completed a B.A. in Political Science from the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, The City College of New York. 

    Osahon lives in Brooklyn Park with her partner and their dog Oscar, a few reptiles, and more plants than they can count. She enjoys spending time with her community, exploring the beauty of Minnesota summers, and listening to live music of all genres.

    Email: osahon@fosteradvocates.org

Mark Gordon (he/him)

Treasurer

  • Mark C. Gordon is a Professor and the former President and Dean of Mitchell Hamline School of Law. Prior to his arrival in the Twin Cities in July, 2015, Gordon served as President of Defiance College and before that as Dean of University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in Detroit. Gordon is originally from New York, where he worked as an aide to New York’s Governor Mario Cuomo in the mid-1980’s and then, during the first Clinton Administration, as Chief of Staff to Andrew Cuomo at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. He received his B.A. and his Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University, and his law degree from Harvard Law School.

ed morales (he/him)

Board Member

  • ed morales MPP, MSW, LICSW, is a trainer and social worker based in Minneapolis, MN. In addition to being an adoptive and step-parent and a husband, Ed is a full-time staff trainer with the Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy; a social worker with Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota; serves as Community Faculty with the University of Minnesota’s School of Social Work; sits on the Minnesota Children’s Subcommittee on Children’s Mental Health; and provides training, clinical supervision and professional development through his LLC, Socorro Consulting. Ed lives in North Minneapolis with his wife, youngest kids, and his cat, Mocha.

Meet the founder of Foster Advocates

Hoang Murphy

As a former high school English teacher, Hoang saw the importance of amplifying student and family voices. As a Foster, he knew that children and families must have a seat at the policymaking table. As founder of Foster Advocates, Hoang worked to ensure that those most impacted by current inequities had a voice in making decisions and crafting solutions.

Hoang was the 2023 Child Welfare Change Maker award recipient, a 2022 Bush Fellow, the 2021 CCAI Angel in Adoption award recipient, and served as the 2016 Public Policy Fellow with the United States Department of Education. He is a proud first-generation college graduate with a B.A. from Syracuse University, where he majored in Policy Studies and obtained an M.S., Ed. from Johns Hopkins University. Under Hoang’s leadership, Foster Advocates passed five historic bills in its first five years. Hoang retired from the organization in 2023, and he continues to be a key supporter of our Foster Rights Movement.

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