In 2023, after two years of social distancing norms, we launched our first Appreciation Event to reconnect and celebrate the power of community. It quickly became one of our favorite annual traditions.

This year, mentors, volunteers, supporters, community partners and friends gathered to once again celebrate the people who help make our mission possible. Thanks to the generosity of Bike Dog Brewing for donating the event space and Save Mart Folsom Blvd. for providing delicious bites, the mixer-style event was filled with gratitude and meaningful connections.

One of the highlights each year is recognizing individuals whose extraordinary dedication has strengthened our community and created brighter futures for youth. We proudly honor a Mentor of the Year, UPlifter of the Year, and Volunteer of the Year for their outstanding dedication and impact on the youth we serve. This year also featured a new heartfelt Founder Appreciation.

• Kecia Domoto | Founder Appreciation – This year’s Appreciation Event was the perfect opportunity to publicly honor Aging UP Co-Founder Kecia for her vision and leadership in helping create a community of opportunities and support for youth with foster care experience. It all began with a leap of faith in 2016, when she and Co-founder April, with assistance from other professionals, developed Aging UP’s trauma-informed, strengths-based model and mentor training curriculum. After recruiting our first mentoring cohort in 2018, Kecia continued to diligently serve as Program Director, managing day-to-day program operations, which required innovation throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Kecia retired from her staff role in August 2025, yet as we say, “Once you’re part of our community, you’re always part of it!” Kecia’s efforts and advocacy will remain embedded throughout our culture.

• Kristin Leonard | Mentor of the Year – For more than 8 years, Kristin’s outstanding commitment has been an anchor for her mentee, Star. She is there to celebrate milestones, offer encouragement and provide practical support, including reaching out for grocery gift cards when needed. After Star earned her esthetician license in 2025, Kristin connected her with an opportunity to turn her passion for beauty into additional income as a Beauty Society Advisor. Kristin’s generosity extends beyond her mentoring relationship. She volunteers during events and is on our FUNdraising planning committee. Kristin also made last year’s  Holiday meetUP one of the sweetest events yet by baking more than 100 sugar cookies for youth and mentors to decorate together.

• Victoria Rodriguez | Volunteer of the Year – Our community has stories to share, and “Vikki,” as she’s known by Mentoring Matches, makes that happen! As a full-time videographer and editor, Vikki uses her expertise to highlight our mission in a meaningful way. While she has volunteered in this role since our founding in 2018, last year she made it a priority to create more video content, launching several new INsights videos featuring unscripted mentees and mentors. These powerful stories were a huge part of our much-needed end-of-year and Big Day of Giving fundraising successes. Check out the moving videos she produced on our YouTube channel!

• Don Wells | UPlifter of the Year – Don is the Chief Empowerment Officer of Just In Time For Foster Youth, a San Diego-based nonprofit that provides community and life-changing resources for more than 3,000 former foster youth annually. After an introduction in 2024, Aging UP joined JIT’s 100K Community, a “scaling by sharing” approach that allows partners to replicate JIT’s impactful model to best fit each organization’s needs. Shortly after, Don, who has led JIT for nearly 20 years, began mentoring Co-founder April. True to the UPlifter definition, this was extremely beneficial during a season of significant changes, including Keica’s retirement and the unexpected elimination of our local AmeriCorps program due to federal cuts and the two positions it provided. Don also made a personal multi-year investment of $20,000 and invited others to invest in Our Vision to serve 100 youth annually by 2030. When accepting his award, Don shared encouraging words that perfectly captured the spirit of the day.

Guests also enjoyed Mingle Bingo, which sparked great conversations, delicious appetizers from Save Mart, raffle prizes, and the opportunity to build new or deeper connections with others who believe in empowering young people. The event was a joyful reminder that every success story begins with a community of people who show up, care deeply and invest in the future of young people.

We are incredibly grateful to everyone who attended, volunteered, donated, and helped make this celebration a success. Such support ensures that youth with foster care experience have access to the relationships, resources and opportunities needed to thrive.

Thank you for being part of our community and for helping us celebrate another year of impact. We look forward to continuing to empower thriving futures together!

And we’re seeing it happen! The youth in our program are breaking statistics—graduating high school on time, pursuing college and career pathways, securing employment, and living independently. These outcomes are not accidental; they are the result of intentional mentoring, trauma-informed support, and a community that invests in young people.

When Aging UP first launched, we served ages 13 to 17, with the intent of “aging up” through 24. Thanks to grants from Golden 1 Credit Union and other generous funding, we are proud to have achieved this first milestone. Today, half of our young people are 18 or older.

But our vision is greater. Over the next five years, we aim to triple the number of youth served annually, extend support through age 26, and lay the foundation for securing a dedicated training and recreation center where Mentoring Matches can connect, learn and truly belong.

Please take a moment to hear from our friend, Don, Chief Empowerment Officer at Just in Time for Foster Youth in San Diego, on how much he believes in our mission.

To make the bold move of hiring staff to efficiently lead this next phase, increase the frequency and depth of mentor training, and enhance the quality of support our youth deserve requires reliable, mission-aligned funding.

Here’s where you come in. Join us in making our vision a reality. Your one-time, multi-year or monthly commitment at a level that feels meaningful to you can make it happen. Whether it’s an investment of $25 per month or a one-time gift of $50,000, or any amount in between, every dollar gets us closer to expanding access to mentoring, connection and opportunity! Please click here to read more about our vision and download a pledge commitment form, or you can visit agingup.org/give.

Together, we can empower brighter futures for even more deserving young people in the Sacramento region!

For more than ten years, Amber has worked in the nonprofit sector, supporting families experiencing poverty and youth currently or formerly in the foster care system. In 2018, Amber served as a congressional intern with the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, where she wrote and delivered a policy report to Members of Congress and White House staff, highlighting the importance of early trauma screenings and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) prevention efforts.

In September 2024, we excitedly welcomed Amber as a vital addition to our staff team, formerly comprised only of our Founders. In this first role as Community Coordinator, Amber supported philanthropic initiatives and fundraising events. In 2026, after a brief personal leave, Amber was welcomed back to the team in an expanded role to manage all philanthropic efforts to help us achieve Our Vision of serving 100 youth annually by 2030.

In her free time, Amber enjoys rooting on the UW Huskies, spending time with her corgi, drinking coffee, and camping with her husband and four-year-old son.

Alan holds certifications in Amazon Web Services and is working toward other Technology and Project Management certifications. Alan holds a B.S. in Community and Regional Development from the University of California, Davis.

As a leader of the Sacramento Hispanic American Employee Resource Group (HAERG), Alan reached out in the spring of 2023 to discover ways his group could support our mission. Since then, he has continued to volunteer and support Aging UP, even creating a partnership so we could use Accenture’s state-of-the-art office space. A year later, we were thrilled to welcome Alan as our newest board member to join the leadership team!

Alan is especially enthusiastic to provide learning opportunities and resources to children with a background in foster care so that they can grow into happy and successful adults.

Alan lives in Sacramento, California. In his personal time, he loves mentoring/helping others, accumulating self-development and leadership knowledge, introducing aviation to younger generations, watching Formula 1, and doing high-performance driving with his dad.

Photo by Lana Akin Photography

The Community Coordinator is a mostly remote, part-time position that involves effectively communicating our mission to build and maintain relationships with financial partners. It offers a flexible schedule of approximately 20 hours per week, with some weekend and evening hours required. The non-exempt hourly wage ranges from $24-$30 based on experience. It includes paid holidays, paid time off, the opportunity to earn bi-annual bonuses, professional development, and the potential to expand the role.

Responsibilities include managing fundraising events, cultivating relationships with investors and potential donors, and representing our mission to increase philanthropic support. Please see the full Community Coordinator Job Description for more details.

If you have the skills needed, a passion for empowering youth from foster care, and a desire to work in a professional yet flexible environment, please submit your resume and cover letter with wage preferences to Communications Director April Johnson at april@agingup.org by August 30, 2024.

The Match Coordinator will join our efforts of empowering youth with experience in foster care by providing supervision and supportive services to mentors and youth in our program. Tasks include regular check-ins with program participants (youth, mentors and caregivers) to monitor participant safety, ensure positive impacts for youth, and promote healthy relationships between youth and their mentors.

This independent contractor role will start in August 2024 and offers a high degree of flexibility. You will support a caseload of up to 10 Mentoring Matches comprised of youth (ages 13-22) and their volunteer adult mentors. Because most mentors and youth have daytime commitments of work and school, weekend availability is needed but adjusted to suit your schedule.

Does this sound like YOU?! Review the full scope of work description and apply by July 31, 2024.

*You can learn more about our current Match Coordinators at agingup.org/our-team.

This FUNdraiser started with a lively happy hour, including drinks and hors d’oeuvres, networking, perusing fantastic raffle packages and taking pics at the photo station. It also included a delicious BBQ dinner, Topgolf play with an onsite golf pro, contests and more. Of course, the best part was celebrating our mission and hearing from Mentor Michael about his past 4 years of mentoring his mentee, Elijah— now a young adult.

Our special thanks to sponsors: The iFish Group (IFG), Fitness Machine Technicians Sacramento and Northern California, and Capitol Advisors Group, LLC. A huge shoutout to Ann Spade, Team My58, Event Reporter with KCRA/KQCA, for bringing her energy and excitement as our emcee. We also thank Accenture for providing a team of hardworking volunteers, all the local businesses (listed below) who contributed to our raffle packages, along with Sacramento Top10 for highlighting our event.

Proceeds from Play to Empower help connect youth from foster care with supportive mentors, essential resources, and positive experiences so they can thrive as adults. Everyone who attended, whether a player or spectator, those who gave a special donation or purchased an Empower Flag, and those who bought raffle tickets or took part in the wine pull, made an impact that directly empowers the young people we serve.

Thank you again to everyone who attended, supported, and made Play to Empower 2024 such a fantastic event!

Local support thanks to:

90 Plus Wine Club

Alchemy Salon & Spa

Article Consignment Boutique

Asha Urban Baths

Bailarin Cellars Winery & Tasting Room

Camden Spit & Larder

Carvalho Family Winery

Fairytale Town

Heringer Estates Family Vineyards and Winery

Kimmie Candy

Leatherby’s Family Creamery, Elk Grove

Nothing Bundt Cakes, Fair Oaks Blvd., Sacramento

Mikuni Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar

Rendez-vous Winery

The Sophia, Home of B Street Theatre

Sacramento Republic FC

Seka Hills Winery

Tipsy Putt, Sacramento

Todd Taylor Wines

Total Wine & More

Trader Joe’s, Elk Grove

Various individual donors: A. Dickinson, J. Domoto, D. Sakazaki, and I. Johnson

If you want experience working with diverse communities and are excited to equip youth from foster care to succeed, this unique opportunity may be the perfect fit for you! During this one-year commitment, the member will serve an average of 18 hours weekly, gaining hands-on experience working with volunteer mentors, teens in foster care, and various professionals in the field.

Responsibilities include assisting with mentor recruitment, screening and training, coordinating events, gathering data, and assisting with overall services that support the mentors and youth in our Program. Comprehensive training is provided and required, ensuring you have the tools and knowledge to excel in this role. Please see the service description for more details.

If this interests you, apply by submitting your resume and cover letter to Program Director Kecia at kecia@agingup.org by July 28.

This position is under the California Foster Youth Initiative AmeriCorps Program in partnership with California Volunteers.

This fun-filled day is exclusively for youth with current or former foster care experience who are 14 years old or older and can be accompanied by a supportive adult (mentor, parent, guardian, social worker, etc.).

Attendees will enjoy interactive activities, including high-tech driving simulators used by the California Highway Patrol! Prizes, lunch and resources are all part of this FREE event. Pre-registration is required.

Impact Teen Drivers and its partners the California Highway Patrol and the California Office of Traffic Safety are the driving force behind this event, and we couldn’t be more pleased to join them.

Learning to drive is often a highlight for teens and young adults. Unfortunately, along with other normalcy experiences, youth in foster care face many barriers to gaining their driver’s license. It is estimated that only 4% of youth obtain a driver’s license while in foster care. Barriers include frequent moves, costs (instruction, insurance and gas), or having an adult with a car to help them practice.

We are so excited to be part of this important event. Youth will learn tips and tricks to stay safe as a driver or passenger and also gain resources on how to obtain their licenses.

Youth from foster care, ages 14 or older can attend with an adult. Please register by Sept. 6.