The First Star Celebration

Celebrating California's Champions of Foster Youth

Join us for an inspiring evening celebrating First Star, an organization dedicated to transforming lives through innovative education and support programs for youth and young adults in foster care. This special event will unite our community of champions, including donors, partners, alumni, and friends, for a night filled with storytelling, recognition, and purpose. 

This year's Celebration centers on our California work. Our Academy model launched here in 2011 and has since grown across the state from UCLA to Sacramento State, Cal Poly Humboldt, UC Riverside, and beyond, because state and county leaders, university partners, and generations of scholars proved that when systems truly invest in foster youth, futures change.

Our 2026 "Guiding Stars" are the people who made that possible: the supervisors, directors, and university leaders whose consistent support built a California-born model now shaping how the whole state supports youth in foster care. 

Join us October 27th at MountainGate Country Club as we honor them, and the scholars whose Strong Futures Start Here.