Twinspire News and Media

Demontea and Tray Thompson's foster youth success story comes to life in an entry written by the UCLA News Room. Let's see what it took for their story to come to life.

Twinspire, partered with Heirloom LA, is finally getting recognized for their efforts in collaborating with youth and young adults, in order to help up their cooking skills all while being supported by friendly staff in a space that's meant for them. 

"SJPLA envisions a liberated L.A. where every Angeleno sees the history and systems of injustice, and works together to redistribute wealth and power." Demontea Thompson makes his pitch for Twinspire in the 2022 SJPLA Virtual Meet in order to advocate for disadvantaged youth in Los Angeles.  

Demontea Thompson co-authored this piece with Dr. Kizzy Lopez, Dr. Akin Abioye, and Dr. Deshunna Ricks. They shed light on the inextricable connections between various systems that further marginalize our Black children.  

The Alliance for Children's Rights held a virtual policy summit, "The Path to Racial Equity in Child Welfare: Valuing Family and Community". Demontea was a moderator for a panel during the summit and a contributor to the policy report. Please read the report attached.

Demontea Thompson co-authored this piece with Kenyon Lee Whitman for the Chronicle of Social Change, writing about racism in America, current events, and what it will take to dismantle systems of oppression.

Double the brothers, double the love!  Twin brothers Tae and Tray Thompson are mentoring future generations of kids in foster care — like fellow twin brothers Jaloni and Kalonji — through their nonprofit #TwInspire!

Written by Twinspire's own Demontea Thompson, this autobiography documents inspirational life lessons, woven by poetic mantras and self-reflections. Raised From Scratch is Demontae’s first book, as the first graduate of the Digital Scholars (Book Writing & Publishing) program at Message Media Ed – School of Black Leadership in the Digital Age in Los Angeles, CA.

While some foster youth, approximately 46% live in non-relative homes, just over one-quarter, 29%, live in foster homes with relatives—often known as “kinship care.” This is the story of twin brothers, two of a family of twelve children who managed to successfully make it through the system with the help of a great aunt and uncle who taught them some important lessons on life.

This year, Tray and Tae donated $6,000 to CSUN to create and support the Lorenzo Edwards – Twinspire Scholarship in the Department of Financial Aid and Scholarship, within CSUN’s Division of Student Affairs. They hope to grow this scholarship to $50,000. 

To read more about the scholarship, click the photo above. To donate, follow the link below:

Former foster child, a USC alumnus, fights for foster youth. Demontea Thompson uses his USC master’s degree in education to advocate for children who face similar struggles in the foster care system. He hopes his story will inspire other foster youth to follow in his footsteps. They can be confident he’ll be waiting with a helping hand to guide them along the way.

Written by Demontea, this article on The Chronicle of Social Change website focuses on what foster youth can do to prepare themselves for the world ahead of them, with tips, advice and insight that only someone with a lived experience can articulate.

Demontea Thompson's performance of his visceral and personal poem, "Mother Where Were You" discussing his upbringing, providing poetic insight into his thoughts and feelings of growing up in the foster care system. The video is produced by Next Day Entertainment. 

Demontea Thompson's TEDx talk on his tips for life, involvement, mentorship, failure and how to grow and succeed throughout your life. Find moments of excellence, checking in with yourself and remembering that you are the most important person to motivate yourself.