From System-Impacted to System-Changer: Nandi’s Advocacy Journey

Posted on June 4, 2025 by Nebraska Children — Leave a comment

Nandi Kumondan attends national conferences to advocate for system-impacted youth. — ^{Nandi Kumondan uses her experience to advocate for young people with system involvement, turning her journey into a powerful force for change.}

Just one week before her high school graduation, Nandi Kumondan’s world changed forever. Her single mother was involved in an accident that left her with a life-threatening injury, requiring intensive medical care.

At just 17, Nandi never imagined she would suddenly become involved in a government system and thrust into adulthood.

Turning 17 and Losing Everything

Nandi outside Legislative Days — *Photo courtesy of Nandi Kumondan*

On the day of her graduation, the family became homeless when a move was necessary to ensure her mother received the care she needed. Due to her critical state, the next month saw Nandi and her siblings sleeping in hospital rooms.

When her mother later passed, Nandi and her younger siblings were left without their primary caregiver. Legal guardianship was quickly arranged for the younger children; however, Nandi’s situation was not handled the same way. It was more of an informal agreement without official legal documentation. Documentation that would later cause issues in Nandi’s ability to qualify for services.

“Now looking back at it, I was very mishandled,” Nandi reflects, recalling the challenges of navigating a system that overlooked her legal needs during this critical time. She had a place to stay, but things never felt stable.

Nandi was left in limbo. As a minor on the edge of adulthood, she had no parent, no legal guardian, and no guardianship documentation.

Slipping Through the Cracks

Nandi started college that August, unsupported. She knew she needed help, but due to her lack of guardianship documentation proving her status, help was difficult to obtain, and led to her inability to access assistance that would have helped her on her road to stability.

“I slipped through the cracks,” Nandi recalls.

As part of her experience with Connected Youth Initiative (CYI) and its coaches through Central Plains Center for Services, Nandi was invited to attend Legislative Days. Hosted by CYI, an initiative of Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, Legislative Days emphasizes civic engagement as a tool for personal growth and community betterment. For many participants, this event marks the beginning of their advocacy journey, setting them on paths to future leadership roles.

The experience did just that. Nandi’s advocacy spirit was ignited. She also met many youth leaders along the way, including Lincoln Arneal, Assistant Vice President of Policy and Leadership at Nebraska Children.

“She jumped right in and became an important member,” shared Arneal. “She found issues that she cared about and shared her experience. Nandi is a passionate advocate who works to fight for others and improve the juvenile justice system. She is great at making connections with others and using her personal experience to help create system change.”

With her advocacy spirit ignited, Nandi found herself invited to participate in several youth advisory boards, including with Connected Youth Initiative and Central Plains Center for Services. She is also active in juvenile justice work and was appointed to the Nebraska Coalition for Juvenile Justice by Governor Jim Pillen.

^{Nandi attends the National Jim Casey Convening with Chloe McShannon (Youth Advisory Board Member), Beth Buhr (Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services), Lincoln Arneal (Nebraska Children), Jeff Smith (Central Plains Center for Services), Carissa Kollath (Nebraska Children), and Rowan Thompson (Youth Advisory Board Member).}

Her efforts focus on ensuring that youth in foster care know their rights, advocating for supports during and after their time in the system, and emphasizing the importance of access to records and financial benefits.

In her advocacy roles, Nandi brings a unique perspective, informed by her firsthand experience as an aged-out youth. She works with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to advocate for autonomy for young people in care, ensuring that kids who are system-involved know their rights and that those rights are protected until they are old enough to understand the implications. She works to create systems and supports that are made available to youth who age out of the system. Supports that would have been very helpful in her personal journey. She wants to ensure youth have access to their records, financial benefits, and support.

Nandi shares, “Without knowing those rights and supports are available, youth can be set up for homelessness, trafficking, or a lot of negative outcomes simply by not having access.”

Nandi understands her role is vital in these spaces. She works alongside organizations to bring her unique experience to the decision-making table.

“No one in that room has actually been a foster kid or an aged-out youth,” Nandi shares. “I bring a unique sense and almost a drive. I know I must carry my weight in those situations.”

That comes as feedback to various programs or legislation that impact youth who have experienced situations similar to hers. “They can implement all this stuff, but they don’t understand how it impacts the youth. That’s where I come in.”

Uniting in the Advocacy Journey

Nandi is also grateful for the networks that she has created through her advocacy work, explaining that everyone involved has their own story.

Her advocacy work has given her opportunities across the country when she attends conferences and workshops to shape policy and support initiatives preventing others from slipping through the cracks of the system. In November 2024, she attended the National Jim Casey Conference in North Carolina as a member of the CYI’s Youth Advisory Board. She is also attending the Transformation of Youth Justice Symposium in June 2025 in San Diego as member of the same board.

^{Nandi attended the Jim Casey National Conference in North Carolina as a member of the CYI Youth Advisory Board.}

“You’ve got mothers, college graduates, and people who are still figuring out life,” Nandi emphasizes. “What all unites us is this advocacy journey. We are all kids of the system, and we are here to help.”

She is grateful for her network, explaining that everyone involved has their own story, but they have a common denominator, they want to create change.

She is also involved in helping others identify their advocacy role. This summer, she will be working with other members of the Connected Youth Initiative’s Youth Advisory Board to plan the LEAD the Summer Event in August with the theme “Creating Community.”

A Slip that Fueled a Fire

Fueled by her own experiences, Nandi’s advocacy work has influenced legislation impacting thousands of children across Nebraska, including securing support for the SNAP food program.

Last year, she was one of the leading youth advocates who stood before Governor Pillen to share the impacts of the SNAP food program (LB952), a piece of legislation impacting the food security of 150,000 children across Nebraska. Advocacy worked, and Governor Pillen announced that his stance had changed, thanks to the passionate youth who advocated for the program. Nandi even received a letter from him complimenting the group’s impact.

^{Lexi Simonsen, Megan Young, Nandi Kumondan, Matthew Floyd, and Jordan Simonsen made a presentation about the Summer EBT program to Gov. Jim Pillen as part of Legislative Days. He said the presentation helped him change his mind about the state’s participation in the Summer EBT Program.}

Arneal shares, “It was her personal experience story that stuck with him and helped change his mind to have Nebraska join the program.”

But the impact doesn’t stop there. Through her work with Central Plains Center for Services, she is collaborating with community colleges to create programs for apprenticeships for system-impacted youth to receive on-the-job training and education.

Looking Forward

“When I speak from experience, I speak from the experience of being aged out. When I advocate, I’m advocating from the aged-out youth perspective,” Nandi shares. “I advocate for the teenagers, the forgotten youth, the ones that slip through the cracks. Not every story turns out like mine. Many others never recover. It happens a lot.”

Whether it’s reshaping legislation to protect foster youth’s financial rights, creating apprenticeship pathways, or supporting peers through summer leadership programs, she continues to build the very system that once failed her.

She advocates for creating impact. So that other young adults with system involvement don’t have to go through what she did.

Her ultimate goal is to show foster care youth that a future is possible and that people are helping to make it happen.

More about the Connected Youth Initiative

Nandi’s story is not unique, but her courage to change the system is. Help us prevent other youth from slipping through the cracks. Support youth voices and advocacy efforts at NebraskaChildren.org/get-involved.

Nandi’s experience with the Connected Youth Initiative and its coaches through Central Plains Center for Services, has provided Nandi with support and opportunities to thrive.

The Connected Youth Initiative (CYI) connects community collaboratives with resources, best practices, and evaluation to support young adults navigating independence. Many participants have personal experience in the child welfare, juvenile justice, or have experienced homelessness, making their advocacy efforts deeply personal and impactful.

Nebraska Children and Families Foundation is committed to strengthening communities so that all children, young people, and families thrive. Central to this mission is ensuring that those with personal experience play an active role in shaping policies and initiatives.