“I wanted to work in something that could better the lives of my community,” says Mariana Incarnato, an Ashoka Fellow and the Founder of Doncel, an agency in Buenos Aires Argentina that focuses on changing the way youth who leave residential care are supported as they find their way into adulthood. A clinical psychologist, she worked in Spain for a few years before returning home to her native Argentina. “My sense of belonging was very deep,” she says of her desire to return home. “And my sense of working for social justice was very deep as well.”

That injustice motivated her. “Almost 50% of the people live below the poverty line so when you feel you belong to a community, that sense is very strong —that commitment is very strong, if you’ve had more opportunity than others.”

She founded Doncel, an organization dedicated to fighting for the rights of children who were timing out of residential care. Faced with the end of care at the age of 18, young people who have been in the foster care system face an uphill battle. Without family to support them, many end up on the streets, struggling to find their way. Armed with the knowledge that youth leaving care had knowledge to share, Mariana Incarnato and her band of activists fought to create laws that would put in place supports that would give them the help they needed to take their place in society.

Mariana Incarnato is the founder and former director of Doncel (The word means maiden in Spanish and refers to a noble young man who is not ready to leave the castle for war). In 2012 she was chosen as an Ashoka fellow, an organization that celebrates global change makers.

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• Each of us have an opportunity to create a community where we all belong. Which are the communities where you feel a sense of belonging?

• Mariana believes that if we are fortunate enough to have opportunity, we can do something that will better the lives of others. Where have you been given opportunity? What can you do to share what you have been given?

• Listening to the youth forced a dramatic change in Mariana’s work. Who are the voices that need to be heard in society? What might we learn if we could take the time to listen?

  Learn more about Mariana’s work here.

  Visit her Ashoka Fellows page here.

  Listen to Mariana’s episode here.