LIFE

Happy National Mentoring Day!

Today, October 27, is all about celebrating the people in our lives who motivate us to be our best selves. 

If you've ever had a camp counselor, English teacher, coach or family member that you looked up to and knew you could rely on for nearly *anything*, then you know firsthand how important mentors are. Having a reliable mentor for advice and support can be key in helping you reach your goals in both your profesh and personal life. 

Layla Tehranchi, 17, is committed to making sure that everyone—specifically young people who are about to age out of foster care—have access to trusted mentors. That's why she created FosterBuddy, a brand new app that pairs up teens with people who will have their backs no matter what. 

@fosterbuddyapp

Why'd she do it?

Layla's been a longtime community service star in the Los Angeles area ever since she and her sister co-founded the outreach organization Coco's Angels. Their initiative, which they started when Layla was only in ninth grade(!!!), hosts everything from holiday gift donations to school supplies drives for foster youth in L.A.

But Layla will always remember when she first got the idea for FosterBuddy. During a Coco's Angels's event, she struck up a convo with a fellow teen, who was about to age out of foster care himself.

“I eventually asked him, 'What's your dream?' To me, this was always such a casual question,” she recalls. “He looked at me and he said, 'I don't have one.' And that moment literally just kept replaying in my head for months and months.”

After that encounter, Layla dreamed up an innovative solution to the challenges she saw foster youth facing: an online space where young people make profiles and get matched up with adults who share their interests or can help support them on their career paths. 

"Essentially, a lot of these foster kids, when they age out of the system, they literally have zero people in their lives to depend on—no one to call if they're ever in trouble or need help," Layla says. "So once I thought of [FosterBuddy], I knew I had to make it happen."

How'd she do it?

Layla had a bit of her own background in tech but eventually decided she'd want to bring in an expert. "It was a roadblock I faced. I do know how to code, to some extent, but I definitely needed to find help," Layla remembers. 

At first, Layla admits that she was hesitant to bring other players onto the project. She was nervous because she wanted to make sure that everyone who worked on FosterBuddy was just as passionate about her mission.

So when she got a message from a skilled app designer who had fostered and adopted five children of his own, she knew this collab was meant to be.

@fosterbuddyapp

"It was just a beautiful moment of realizing how much someone else could care about an impact that you're so passionate about making. It definitely taught me that, in order to make an impact, you have to open up your circle and be willing to let other people in," Layla says. 

Plus, Layla had a ton of support from her family, especially her mom, whom she sees as one of her own most influential mentors. "She's everything that I could ever dream of being as a woman," Layla gushes. "That's another reason why it was so important for me to gather mentors: to make sure others could be exposed to this privilege that I had my whole life and got to go home to every day."

Creating the app wasn't 100% an easy process. Layla encountered some pushback from company heads, foster agencies and even social workers along the way who suggested she was too young to make a real difference. But with her fam and collaborators by her side, Layla was able to channel that confident-girl energy—and she believes that any gal who wants to be a changemaker should be prepared to do the same. 

"When it comes to anyone else's opinions, especially adults who might think that this is just a childish aspiration, you have to mute that noise," she advises. "Let your passion be the number one voice in your head."

Now, Layla’s working with her team to continue developing her app, conduct background checks for potential FosterBuddy mentors and stay connected with foster youth IRL—and remind them to always keep dreaming.

Learn more about Layla's inspiring work by checking out FosterBuddy and Coco's Angels! 

Need more inspo from real-life girls who are giving back? Look no futher:
💟 This teen entrepreneur started her own business—now she's sharing her best go-getter advice
💟 All-star cheerleader Brooklynn Riley is spreading kindness one Post-it Note at a time
💟 Teen activist Zoya Haq is making *big* changes to what she's learning in school...and you can too!

by Madelon Basil | 10/27/2023