Ella Serkadis is from San Francisco, California. She cares a lot about helping young people and making sure kids have the support they need to grow up safe and happy. Right now, Ella spends most of her time going to school and learning about ways she can help others in her community.

Ella believes that every young person deserves to be heard and treated fairly and because of this, she works with the National Foster Youth Institute (NFYI) to speak up for and with young people and help improve the child welfare system. Her focus is on making sure kids in foster care feel supported, respected, and listened to.

Outside of NFYI, Ella likes being involved in her community and finding ways to help people around her. She enjoys learning new things and meeting people who also want to make a difference.

When she is not working on advocacy, Ella enjoys spending time with friends and exploring new interests such as traveling and getting insight for research study. Through the Congressional Leadership Academy, she hopes to learn more about leadership, how government works, and the best ways to speak up on important issues such as homelessness, finding voices for those who are less privileged, and more opportunities for all. She wants to use these skills to help create better laws and programs that support young people across the country.