Fostering Change Podcast | Episode 269 | Shanté Elliott

As we continue an exciting new year of Fostering Change, this episode centers on possibility — what happens when lived experience, research, and belief in young people come together to rewrite outcomes.

This week, Rob Scheer is joined by Dr. (Candidate) Shanté Elliott, a learning scientist, social innovator, and founder of TasselTurn — an organization reimagining how children in foster care and students experiencing housing insecurity move through school, graduation, and the transition to adulthood.

Having experienced foster care herself, Shanté brings rare and powerful insight to her work. She blends academic research, technology, and deep empathy to help children in foster care not only stay in school, but truly see themselves as capable, worthy, and supported.

What began in 2020 with a $300 grant has grown into a nationally recognized platform connecting young people with coaching, mentorship, and meaningful incentives tied to educational milestones.

Now a PhD candidate at Northwestern University, Shanté has been recognized as a Forbes Changemaker, L’Oréal Paris Woman of Worth, and Echoing Green Fellow, with her work featured in Forbes, The Imprint, and Reader’s Digest. In this conversation, she shares how education — when paired with trust and opportunity — can become a powerful pathway to stability, confidence, and economic mobility for children in foster care.

Episode Highlights

Education & Foster Care: The real barriers children in foster care face in completing high school and navigating what comes next — and why traditional systems often fall short.

The TasselTurn Model: How personalized coaching, milestone-based incentives, and digital tools keep children in foster care engaged and supported.

Tech for Good: Using technology to track progress, close equity gaps, and create accountability that centers student success.

Lived Experience as Leadership: How Shanté’s own foster care journey informs her research, innovation, and belief in changing — not “beating” — the odds.

Why It Matters: The long-term impact of investing in education as a tool to disrupt cycles of poverty and instability for children in foster care.

Shanté Elliott is a learning scientist, social entrepreneur, and founder of TasselTurn — a national platform supporting children in foster care and students experiencing housing insecurity through key educational milestones. A former child in foster care and first-generation college graduate, she is currently a PhD candidate at Northwestern University, where her research focuses on educational identity and narrative.

Since launching TasselTurn in 2020 with just $300, Shanté has built a nationally recognized organization rooted in the belief that young people deserve more than survival — they deserve systems designed for their success.

Connect with Shanté & TasselTurn

Website: www.tasselturn.org

Instagram: @tasselturn

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To listen to previous episodes of Fostering Change, please visit: www.comfortcases.org/podcast or your favorite podcast outlets.

📩 Have thoughts or questions? Reach out at fosteringchange@comfortcases.org —we’d love to hear from you!