Ella Bat-Ami is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and is passionate about improving the foster care system, as well as advancing immigrant rights, criminal justice reform, and housing access. She is a freshman at Belmont University and dedicates her time to legislative advocacy and policy reform focused on ensuring young people, especially those with lived experience in foster care, have a voice in the decisions that shape their lives.

Through the bonds she formed with other young people while in foster care, Ella was inspired to pursue legislative reform to Tennessee’s foster care system. In 2025, she successfully authored, lobbied, and passed the Tennessee Foster Youth Bill of Rights.

She hopes to channel her passion into action through NFYI, focusing on strengthening protections and representation for foster youth in public policy. Outside of NFYI, she continues to advocate for reform at both the state and national levels so that foster youth have influence on decisions that most impact them.

When she is not in advocacy spaces, Ella is a proud older sister—her most important job. Through the Congressional Leadership Academy, she hopes to gain deeper insight into federal policymaking and strengthen her advocacy and leadership skills so she can continue fighting for meaningful, youth-informed change and for her foster sisters.