Tamalani Barnett

I have more than 20 years of experience working with children in foster care. This includes ten years at the Children's Law Center of California as a staff attorney for children and as the director of the attorney conflict panel. I helped lead the initial efforts for CLC regarding child sex trafficking identification and prevention. I am a certified child welfare law specialist. I have experience in adoption law most recently at the FamilyBuilding Law firm, handling independent, agency, dependency, relative, stepparent and adult adoptions. I engage the community through trainings and public speaking on the topics of foster care, adoption, reunification and child welfare law. I am currently the full time executive director of a nonprofit I co-founded called RaisingHOPE, Inc that empowers youth and young adults who are experiencing foster care to achieve their dreams through resources and relationships. Founded in 2015, RaisingHOPE provides mentoring & life coaching, life skills courses, housing navigation, employment connections, transportation assistance, financial support, and advocacy for teens and young adults who are or were in foster care. We are close to launching our capital campaign to build a campus to eliminate homelessness for youth aging out of foster care. In September 2025, we were honored to be featured on season 2 of the Hallmark Channel and Hallmark+ Celebrations with Lacey Chabert. I, along with writer/director, Janet Craig and others, co-produced an award winning feature film called Wake Up about the cross section between foster care and trafficking. I love being a member of the TEACh Scholarship Committee for foster youth. I am passionate about coaching and providing resources and care support to young adults who are aging out of the foster care system.