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Melissa Mayo

Melissa Mayo, at 22 years old, is an alumnus of foster care. She had spent five years in the foster care system and is now the President of the HI H.O.P.E.S. Youth Leadership Board in East Hawaii. Melissa is also a current Jim Casey Young Fellow with the Jim Casey Initiative and an Advisory Council member of the National Association of Counsel for Children. She has been an ambitious leader with a passion for creating positive change and empowering her peers in the child welfare system. Mayo also uses her advocacy work in her role as the Pono Process lead at EPIC ‘Ohana Inc., promoting youth self-advocacy and assuring the rights of children and youth are being honored and upheld while in foster care. In addition to Mayo’s advocacy work, she is currently working on obtaining her bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Administration of Justice at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. She is also an adoptive mom to her beautiful niece.