Q&A with Tawanna Brown: advocate, scholar, and future CASA volunteer

Youth advocate and scholar, Tawanna Brown, recently spoke during our 2025 Donor Briefing where National CASA/GAL Chief Development Officer, Kate Kennedy, updated supporters on the impact of the CASA/GAL network, emerging trends in child welfare, and inspiring stories from the field. Ms. Brown was National CASA/GAL’s 2021 Akerman Academic Excellence Scholar—an annual award designed to help young adults who have spent time in foster care pursue post-secondary education.

Ms. Brown is now a proud graduate of Seton Hall University, where she earned a dual BA in Political Science and Africana Studies… in just three years! She has courageously shared her foster care journey through speaking engagements, panels, and media. Ms. Brown is an aspiring attorney, motivational speaker, and hopes to become a CASA volunteer herself in the near future.

For those who missed the Donor Briefing, highlights from our conversation with Tawanna Brown follow. Additionally, the full event recording is available to view on YouTube.

(The Q&A has been edited for clarity and length.)

National CASA/GAL: Please, tell us about yourself.

Tawanna Brown: I’m an activist through and through—within the child welfare field, within my community, and most importantly, for youth, especially young people who look like me, and even those who don’t. I think youth empowerment and mentorship are very important. Through my sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, I’m actively involved in giving back to the community.

I’d also like to share a little bit about my background. Since I was 5, I’d heard of child protective services, but I didn’t understand their role until I was older. Around age 11, my siblings and I were removed from our home and placed in foster care. We transitioned to kinship care, then adoption. Ultimately, I ended up back in in the foster care system until I aged out last year.

National CASA/GAL: Could you share a bit about your relationships with your CASA volunteers and with Ms. Marla?

Tawanna Brown: CASA has been the most consistent support in my life throughout my time in foster care. I entered the system with my four siblings, and we were fortunate to have two CASA volunteers, Bob and Abby—so I like to say we got double the magic. They were amazing. They consistently made sure that we felt like people, not just cases, and that we knew we deserved the opportunity to just be children. They listened, remembered the little things (like my favorite color), and made sure we knew we mattered.

And then Marla… I love Marla. She was, at the time, the Executive Director of our local CASA program. She invited me to lunch after I spoke at the local courthouse for Adoption Day one year, and it was the best lunch date I’d ever had. Before we parted ways that day, I told her that we were going to be best friends forever. Since then, she has been one of my biggest mentors and I consider her like family. She moved me into college, bought all of my dorm essentials, dropped off groceries, and just made me understand that my relationship with CASA went far beyond however long my case was.

I deeply appreciate my relationship with Marla. Before working at CASA, she was a full-time attorney—and she looks like me. It was the first time I saw someone in that role who not only held that position but also truly saw me.

National CASA/GAL: What impact did your CASA volunteers have on how you saw yourself and your future?

Tawanna Brown: Previously I had thought that everybody was the same, that no one actually cared. But Bob and Abby were different. They asked me about my dreams, my aspirations, my goals. This was the first time in my life that anyone had asked me these questions. When they returned on their second visit with a blue notebook—just because I had told them blue was my favorite color—it meant more than just a gift. It was a symbol that I mattered, that someone was paying attention. That notebook became a space to write out my feelings and my thoughts. A lot of people don’t have that one person that says, “I believe in you” or “I see you.” Hearing that from my CASA volunteers at age 11 changed my life.

National CASA/GAL: Tell us about the Sibling Bill of Rights in New Jersey.

Tawanna Brown: In 2020, I joined the first ever Youth Council for New Jersey’s Office of Family Voices. Alongside other youth with lived experience and a passion for advocacy, we brainstormed ideas for improving the system. One thing I felt strongly about was keeping siblings together in care because I had heard so many stories of siblings being separated upon entering the system. That idea led me to join the Siblings Subcommittee, where we studied similar laws from states like Connecticut and Massachusetts.

We presented our proposal to the Commissioner and state officials, then worked with legal writers to draft the bill. In late 2022, we got word that our bill was advancing, and soon after, I saw the official announcement that Governor Phil Murphy had signed the Sibling Bill of Rights into law (New Jersey Senate No. 1034, 220th legislation). I joined the Council when I was just 16 or 17, and being part of something so impactful at a young age was incredible. I still can’t believe I was a part of that, and it only strengthened my passion and interest in law.

National CASA/GAL: What’s next for you?

Tawanna Brown: Right now, I’m working at Children’s Rights in New York City, focusing on policy and advocacy within the child welfare system. This role has shown me the many ways I can make a difference through legal and legislative work. I’m also preparing for law school, which I plan to begin in fall 2026.

In the meantime, I’m exploring internships and speaking opportunities. As a Certified Youth Trainer, I’d love to travel, engage more in motivational speaking, and continue advocating for and empowering youth. I don’t have a concrete path laid out yet, but I’m excited to see what happens.