Oakland City Council

This story is the second part of a series about former foster youth who are now working to change policy. The first part can be seen here. Sokhom Mao shows me the 11th floor of Oakland City Hall, where he chairs meetings for the Citizen’s Police Review Board, an entity that works between community members and police officers to ensure police accountability and improve police services.

A handful of supporters followed 26-year-old Sokhom Mao into Oakland City Hall last Wednesday to watch the young advocate make history. With a stroke of a pen on the required registration forms, Mao became the first former foster youth to run for City Council in the city’s history.