When Youth Lead the Way: Carter Beardsley Returns

Ever since launching Youth Voice Amplified, we dreamed of featuring a student who would take their passion for youth voice and turn it into real, lasting change. In this powerful follow-up to Episode 20, we welcome back Carter Beardsley—now a college student, Education Navigator, and still a full-force advocate for youth voice.

Carter discusses how his high school work in leadership, literacy, and advocacy led to the creation of Pathways, a countywide initiative helping foster and homeless youth access college and career opportunities. From policy pitches to program-building, Carter shares how a simple idea turned into a system-shifting program with the support of adults who believed in him.

In this episode, Carter reflects on what it means to go from being given a seat at the table to helping build the table for others. He shares how student-led projects evolved into countywide change, what it takes to move from tokenism to true partnership, and how supportive adults helped fuel his journey. This episode is a masterclass in action, equity, and what happens when youth are truly heard.

Find helpful resources mentioned in this podcast episode.

Connect with Youth Voice Amplified

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If you would like to ask us a question, recommend a topic, or suggest a guest, please email us at youthvoiceamplified@gmail.com.

Credits:

Producers: Brian Johnson, Gennessa Fisher, Kim Silva and Allyson Baptiste
Production Partners: Liam Silva and Kern Education Television Network, the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office
Theme Song: “Beatitude” by Mountaineer 

Transcript

For the purposes of maintaining confidentiality, names and some identifiable characteristics of our storytellers have been changed, but their voices and their stories are real.

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When young people share their stories, they can change the world.

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But some youth voices still go unheard.

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Join me, Janessa Fisher.

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And me, Brian Johnson, for this youth-led monthly interview series as young people tell their untold stories of experiences with homelessness, foster care, disabilities, teen parenting, and more.

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Each conversation will uncover stories of hope, strength from our youth storytellers.

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We want to share the best ways that we can all support youth in similar situations as theirs.

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If you want to know how to do better for youth or simply just be inspired, this is your show.

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Every youth has a story to tell.

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Are you ready to listen?

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Hey everybody, and welcome back to Youth Voice Amplified, the podcast where every youth is heard and every voice matters.

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I'm your host, Janessa.

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And I'm Brian.

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Today's episode is something special.

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For the first time, we're welcoming back a guest for a follow-up interview.

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And not just any guest, a powerhouse youth advocate, a changemaker, and someone we're proud to call a friend of the show.

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Yes.

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Carter Beardsley is back with us today.

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You may remember him from episode 20, Taking Your Seat at the Table, where he shared his journey from student government leader to chairing the Kern Literacy's Youth Advising Council.

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Since then, Carter's story hasn't slowed down, but only gotten more inspiring.

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Since we last spoke with him, Carter now serves as the education navigator with the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Project.

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A Bakersfield Youth Commissioner and a vocal advocate on multiple...

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I'm going to read that whole thing over.

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Since we last spoke with him, Carter now serves as an education navigator with the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Project, a Bakersfield Youth Commissioner, and a vocal advocate on multiple political and advisory boards across Greene County and California.

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His work is helping shape local policy and connect real resources to students who need them most.

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Today we're digging into how Carter's early work and student voice helped spark a major county-wide initiative to improve college and career pathways for high school students experiencing homelessness and foster care.

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His story is such a powerful example of what can happen when a youth voice is nurtured by adults and schools and when students are not only given a seat at the table, but a chance to lead it.

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If you missed this first episode,

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Don't worry, we're highly recommend going back to listening to episode 20.

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But for now, get ready for round two with one of Kern County's most driven and thoughtful youth leaders.

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Please enjoy our conversation with Carter Reidsley.

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Three, two, one, go! Welcome back to Youth Point Amplified, Carter.

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It is so good to have you back.

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I'm excited to be here.

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Thanks for coming back.

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Okay, so as you've been here before, you've played our games.

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We'd like to give you an icebreaker, so I guess our listeners can get to know you a little better, as if they don't know you already.

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But your icebreaker today is, what is the most recent meme or TikTok trend that made you laugh?

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Oh my gosh.

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Oh, that's a good question.

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This hasn't made me laugh, but I really love this and I'm trying to get Brian to do it with us.

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It's the Cat's Eye dance, the touch song.

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Touch, touch, touch, touch, touch.

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How about you?

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We do much.

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That dance, I want Brian to do it.

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I'm trying to convince him.

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Anything for you, Brian.

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That has to do with pop the balloon.

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That made me laugh.

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But anyways, there was this contestant on pop the balloon where, when they give the intro of the person, they do like a little, like, I don't know, like you just get like a side profile.

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They take a picture of you, whatever.

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Yeah.

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But this guy, he was like dancing and it was like the dumbest dance ever.

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And then people are just mimicking it and just dancing.

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But he was a fun guy.

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But yeah.

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Kind of like Ace.

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From Love Island when he does that like arm thing.

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Now everyone does that.

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It's the Ace dance.

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You know what?

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I think I know.

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I think that the trend that's made me laugh the most recently was the comparison between 2016 and 2026.

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And I think mostly because it made me do my own kind of soul searching into who I was in 2016 and had some viral blue hair that will probably not make a return.

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And just seeing, you know, all the things that were really funny and trendy at the time and the outfits.

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Oh, that was the time.

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Is there pictures of, is there evidence of this, Carter, online somewhere?

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I plead the 5th.

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You plead the 5th.

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I plead the 5th.

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We're going to find it.

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And as you know, we always ask our signature questions.

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So for the second time, I'm going to ask you, what does youth voice mean to you?

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Youth voice to me is voice.

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I think that when we talk about youth voice, it's about inviting young people.

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It's inviting young people to take a chair up to a table that they've already had a seat at.

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And so I think rather than it being youth voice, I think it's just voice.

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I think it's a perspective that's necessary and it's a perspective that's unique and it's important that we bring it in.

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So I think that it's just the inclusion of an important group of

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people in decision-making.

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Now that you've given us two definitions of youth voice, how do you think your perspective on that has evolved since the last time?

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I think that through experience, my perspective on it has evolved.

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I think that the last time that I was on here, I was exploring what youth voice meant to me, and I was exploring how I played into it and how

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discovering how my voice mattered.

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And I think since then, I have learned a little bit more about what it means.

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And I think that I've been able to use my voice in ways that I never even dreamed of.

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And so now I find myself trying to bring other youth to the tables that I feel so honored and so blessed to be at and just expanding it.

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I love it.

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Your experience helped evolve your definition.

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Yeah.

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Wonderful.

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Jumping right into your work and

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your program.

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When we first talked to you back on episode 20, for anyone who didn't hear that episode, can you walk us through your student voice journey from then, how it started, and what kinds of student-led work you were involved in?

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Yeah, so the last time that I was on Youth Voice Amplified, I was serving in a position called, or I was serving in an organization called the California Association of Student Councils.

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I was the Region 8 president, which meant that I represented

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the 400,000 students of Kern, Kings, Inyo and Tulare counties on this statewide nonprofit.

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And it was a really, really exciting opportunity for me to be able to learn a little bit about what youth engagement looks like.

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And I took the skills that I learned through that experience and I applied them to a couple of different roles.

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One of them is I'm a former youth commissioner for the city of Bakersfield.

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And during my time on the commission,

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I led an initiative to secure our first budget and restructure the commission a little bit so that we had a little bit more purpose and elevated the youth voice from a city level.

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And since that, I worked with an incredible nonprofit locally called the Kern Literacy Council to put book vending machines in schools and, of course, begun working with the Kern County Superintendent of Schools.

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to implement a program for homeless and foster youth to become more implemented with career technical education.

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And all of these things, I think, stem from the same foundational principle, which is uplifting youth voice and just, you know, having the right people turn their ear to me and give me a chance to be a professional and to see me as a peer.

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That is a lot of good work at such a young age.

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You know what I'm gonna follow up with.

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Can you give us a snapshot of Pathways?

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What is it, who it serves in the moment that the idea sparked for you to create it?

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Yeah, so the Pathways program, I can start at the beginning.

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Started when I discovered that across the country, there is a huge discrepancy in how many homeless and foster youth are actually engaged with career technical education programs.

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We have some of the best campuses for CTE in

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the country here in Kern County.

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And I think that it's important that those students who stand to gain the most and to benefit the most from the programs should have access to the programs.

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And so learning that there were barriers that may have prevented students from attaining a spot in any of these programs for one reason or another, whether it be

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problems with grades or attendance or whatever it may be that I think holistically looking at, we have to realize that we need to step in and be a support system for these students who are going through such a challenging adversity in life and do all we can to make sure that they have the same opportunities as their peers.

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And so I designed a proposal that initially began as a legislative endeavor

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had some really exciting meetings with several folks in Congress, in our state legislature.

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And the one thing that always rings true is that the Kern County Superintendent of Schools has a really great way of uplifting youth voice and giving youth a spot at the table.

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And so our county superintendent, Dr.

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Minniboro, actually

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the proposal had been sent to him.

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He met with me and let me know that this was super aligned with where the county was hoping to go with homeless and foster youth education.

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So yeah, that's kind of the gist of how the program started.

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So your program Pathways, can you elaborate a little bit on more what the actual program is?

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Yeah, so Pathways serves as an opportunity for students who are facing

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students who are unaccompanied homeless youth are able to come into the Dream Center and meet with myself.

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I serve as the lead education navigator.

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And what I will assist them with is figuring out where they want to go in life, what their life plans are, what they want to do after high school.

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Do they want to go to college?

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Do they want to go into the military?

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Would they like to look at a trade school?

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And kind of seeing

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what their goals are and what are the different opportunities that are within their school district and other schools that can help them get there.

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So if someone wants to be, wants to go into the medical field, then that might look at seeing what classes will best help them get into the Project Lead the Way biomed program so that they can get that hands-on experience.

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Or if they want to be an engineer, it might be the engineering pathway.

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And then, of course, we'll also be looking at all the CTE offerings at various campuses.

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But that's essentially what it is, it's just providing that support for the youth who come in and also serving as an advocate for them so that when all of these challenges come up and these conversations can be very confusing, they have someone in their corner who is able to support them through school and get them to where they want to go and where they need to be.

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Why do you think removing barriers around accessing college and post-secondary education is so especially urgent for foster and homeless youth?

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I think that removing these barriers are so important because just like any other student, whether the student is homeless or in foster care, they are a student who deserves to reap all of the benefits of a quality education, just the same as everyone else.

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And there are barriers that are in place that

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the youth didn't decide on.

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whatever circumstance ended up leading to them facing this adversity and these challenges is not to the youth's own doing.

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And I think that it's our role in education to support them in every way that we can to make sure that they can achieve the same success as their peers.

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College and CTE and whatever pathways may come after high school,

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set people up for life and they set people up to accomplish their dreams.

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And challenging circumstances when you're a youth should not prevent you from reaching the goals that you have set out for yourself and shouldn't prevent you from reaching success just like everyone else.

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What do you hope Pathways will change, not just for students in it now, but for the systems and schools that support them?

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I hope that it sheds a little bit more light on

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the different challenges that youth are facing navigating education.

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I was very fortunate to be raised in a household where my parents were educators.

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And so if I had a question about something, I was able to ask them.

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If I had a question on campus, I knew that my counselor wasn't the scary, distant figure I felt comfortable going to approach her.

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But I recognize that that's not the case for everybody.

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And so

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helping us to break down these barriers is so critical because the longer that they stay up, the more detriment that I think that they have on the youth.

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If we continue to exclude people, again, due to challenging circumstances that they had no control over, we are, honestly, we're setting people up to fail.

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And so out of this, I hope it shines a light on

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the value that these students have.

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I think that it's time that we stop looking at students who are facing adversity as other.

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We all go through challenges in life, and these challenges are greater than the challenges that many other people go through.

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But just like I would want someone to help me, and I would want someone to see through the difficulties that I've gone through in life, I think that we need to do the same for these students and to

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to kind of throw down a ladder and help lift them up every chance that we get so that they can reach the goals that they set out for themselves.

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I really like how this program is kind of like a guiding force.

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It's kind of like that spot that a lot of our youth are missing, that parental figure, someone to guide them through this process, someone to advocate for them, someone to say, hey, you might not know what this means, but this is what it means.

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You might not know this process, but let me help you through it.

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You might not know you have all this great funding somewhere.

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Let me help you get that.

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Right?

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I love that it's really a pathway.

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I love that it's a pathway for our youth who don't have people in their corner all the time.

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Right.

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Jumping right in, what was the process to get Pathway started?

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How did you do it?

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This is my favorite story.

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I think someday I'll tell my kids it as a bedtime story.

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No.

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So

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I was sitting in on a meeting where we were hearing about the different demographics for CTE throughout Kern County.

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And one thing that I will always have to preface by saying is that I think Kern County excels when it comes to doing everything we can to support students everywhere we can.

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I think that we have programs that are second to none, state-of-the-art, hands down.

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I was discouraged to see

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that homeless and foster youth often were not engaged or involved in some of these programs as much as students who may come from, schools that may even have a higher income, typically.

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And I was discouraged to see that

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because I realized that part of it was a systemic issue and part of it was why are we not encouraging these students to apply to these programs?

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Why do we not have it set up so that these students know and believe that they can thrive in spaces like this?

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And so taking some experience that I had from my role as a region president, I wrote a bill proposal because

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That's what every high schooler does when they're bored.

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And I began, workshopping it around to everywhere I could.

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I met with probably over 150 congressional offices, which was really exciting.

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Out of that experience, I was able to learn a little bit about what works and what doesn't.

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It sheds a lot of light on government.

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I ended up taking it to a state level.

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It looked a little promising, but just wasn't feasible for that year.

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And then I ended up taking it down to the county level.

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I had shared it with a mentor of mine who ended up sharing it with Dr.

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Minniboro.

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And I very shortly after got an e-mail and ended up sitting on a meeting with Dr.

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Minniboro and a few of the key stakeholders in career as well as education for the county.

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And

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I was humbled to see that these folks that I look to for leadership were saying that they believed in my idea and they found a way to, put it together.

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And so that's kind of the journey of how it happened, more or less.

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What challenges did you face when developing and launching pathways and how did you overcome them?

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Well, I think when we're talking about youth voice, this is a great example of it, you know, is I

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share that I had a lot of really heartwarming and uplifting encounters with leaders in education and in government, but that wasn't universal.

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I had my fair share of conversations with people who, you know, shut the door on me and turned away because it was, oh, I was just a kid who was walking in with this idea.

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I remember I went up to Sacramento and spent the day on the Hill going office to office, meeting with people and trying to pitch my idea.

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And there were offices that, some of them would have me meeting in the senator or assembly member's personal office, and then some of them, we'd meet in the hallway for a couple of minutes, and then they would say, I'm busy, I gotta go.

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And so it's an interesting

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crossroads to see.

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But I think that would have been the biggest challenge is just navigating how to get people to take a chance on my idea, regardless of me being young.

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Also, government and program development is a very complex thing.

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Having to understand funding, having to understand the ins and outs of why things work and why things don't, even if it sounds like a good idea.

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How does it actually look and process?

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So there were a bunch of different things, but

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we overcome the challenges that we face.

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Was there ever a moment where you felt like giving up, where you felt like, you know what, I don't, I can't do this.

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I give up on this.

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I think that there were moments that I felt it was more challenging to do something.

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I think that there were moments of a little bit more hope than there was other times when I had a good meeting with someone and it started to look up when I got

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When you present something to a legislator in the state, they give you what's called unbacked language, which essentially is, this is what your idea would look like if it was a bill.

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No one's officially picked it up yet, but it is written by the state, and you can take this to different offices and see if someone wants to pick it up.

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I cried when I got it, because I was like, this is my idea.

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And I also cried when I would meet with a really important stakeholder and feel like nothing came out of it.

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I won't say that there was ever a point where I felt like giving up because cliche as it may sound, I think that it's important to persist on ideas that you believe to be good.

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I think that when something is worthwhile and something you believe will create a good change in a community or in someone's world, it's so important that you just continue to push it because a good idea is a good idea no matter who listens.

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What really is interesting to me as somebody who's been through foster care and homelessness, a lot of the times we get met with, it's not my problem.

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And what I really enjoy about talking to you is that's never your take on things.

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And I want to kind of ask why, feed into this.

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Like, why do you lead like this?

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Why is it

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For some adults, it's like, oh, that's not my problem, not my kid.

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But for you, someone who's never been through this, but sees like, hey, this is a barrier, you poured into it, you put your work into it, you put your heart and soul into this.

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Why?

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I think that we, I talk a lot about this table that we pull seats up to and that we talk at.

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And I think that

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The problems of every person that sits at that table relates to me, even if it is not my problem directly.

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These are my peers.

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These are people that I care about.

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These are my loved ones.

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This is my family.

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And so I think it matters because of that.

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There's a really good speech that I like from one of our former presidents where he says that, you know, the single mom on the other side of the city

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her problems matter to me even if I don't know her.

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Because I believe in the foundational promise of a community.

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And I think we are a community.

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And I think that a community is only as strong as its weakest link.

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And if someone is facing a challenge, it is the responsibility of all of us to support them in the ways that we can.

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And so

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I may not have gone through the struggles, but that doesn't mean that there's not someone in my life that I care about who is as susceptible to face those challenges as anyone else.

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When I started this, I was in high school, and the really blunt reality is that homelessness and ending up in foster care is not something that people typically plan for.

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It's something that happens very suddenly, and it's something, it's a very traumatic experience that could have happened to any one of us.

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It could have happened to me in the midst of me doing this.

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And so

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Regardless of if it was something that I had a personal attachment to, I think I have a personal attachment to the people that this was intended to serve.

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And I think that that's why it was so important to advocate for this issue.

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What challenges do young people face when entering adult spaces to create change, especially at like the state or local level?

00:24:01 Speaker 3

Tokenism.

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Tokenism will always be just one of the biggest barriers that young people have to face.

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And it's that we will create these initiatives and these opportunities for young people to have a voice, but typically it only goes so far as to letting young people talk, but we're not listening.

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Or I should say that the stakeholders aren't listening.

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And I think that it's a two-way St.

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you know, is that we want

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to listen.

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The intention is that we want to listen.

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But are we really focusing on making sure that those people feel heard?

00:24:39 Speaker 3

And I think that is the biggest barrier that young people will face when it comes to any sort of advocacy is, you know, I don't have a master's in public policy.

00:24:54 Speaker 3

I don't

00:24:56 Speaker 3

have an extensive career working on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

00:25:00 Speaker 3

I don't understand the ins and outs of every single budget.

00:25:02 Speaker 3

But what I do know is that it's wrong that we pour so much time, effort, energy, and money into phenomenal programs, and they're not always accessible to all people.

00:25:12 Speaker 3

That's a problem.

00:25:13 Speaker 3

And maybe I don't know exactly how to fix it, but those people who have that master's in public policy and who understand the ins and outs of a budget because they've worked so long on Capitol Hill, perhaps we can work together and

00:25:26 Speaker 3

eye to eye on the fact that this is an issue and that expertise can help contribute into finding a solution.

00:25:31 Speaker 2

What has it been like transitioning from being a student advocate to now sitting at the table as a professional?

00:25:36 Speaker 2

How has that changed how people listen to you or how do you advocate?

00:25:40 Speaker 3

I always remember my first experience in advocacy.

00:25:46 Speaker 3

I remember showing up into a room in a full suit and tie expecting everyone else to be in the same

00:25:54 Speaker 3

Most of the people were wearing a t-shirt and jeans, and I felt very out of place, but I knew that I was having to overcome some of the barriers that they didn't to be in the room.

00:26:08 Speaker 3

And so I think as I have transitioned away from being, I guess, a student advocate into more so just advocacy, I always try to remember that because

00:26:24 Speaker 3

there's always going to be a million more Carters.

00:26:26 Speaker 3

There's always going to be a million more students who have just a phenomenal idea that all they need is someone to take a chance on them.

00:26:34 Speaker 3

All they need is someone to turn their ear to them.

00:26:36 Speaker 3

And if that were to happen, I'm so grateful to see how Pathways has been able to take off, but I'm even more grateful that someday I'll get to see 100 more Pathways take off.

00:26:51 Speaker 3

And so

00:26:53 Speaker 3

When I advocate now, I keep in mind that it's my duty to, as I mentioned before, we need to throw down a ladder.

00:27:02 Speaker 3

Well, I need to throw down that ladder.

00:27:03 Speaker 3

And I need to try to help people elevate to positions to where within all the power that I have, as little as that may be, I need to invite people into spaces that I can and help them to really see the power and their value in their voice.

00:27:24 Speaker 1

What does real change look like to you?

00:27:27 Speaker 3

Action.

00:27:28 Speaker 3

I think that we can talk up and down, left and right about something, but if we don't actually see structural change, then

00:27:37 Speaker 3

we've just been having a really nice conversation.

00:27:40 Speaker 3

And I could have a really nice conversation with some random person at the park, but if I come in to have a legitimate conversation with someone as a peer and there's a problem that needs fixing, real change means effort and it means action.

00:27:58 Speaker 3

It means saying, I acknowledge that this is a problem.

00:28:02 Speaker 3

And sometimes it's challenging because you got to, acknowledge your own faults and your missteps and say, where do we have room to grow?

00:28:11 Speaker 3

And setting your sights on achieving that goal and just continuing to grow.

00:28:16 Speaker 3

So I think perhaps it sounds a little simple, but I really think that real change is just action.

00:28:23 Speaker 3

Because even if you don't get to exactly where you want to be, even just, you know, turning the needle a little bit can be

00:28:33 Speaker 3

monumental.

00:28:35 Speaker 1

I agree, because there's a difference between hearing someone and listening.

00:28:38 Speaker 1

Like when you hear someone, you just hear it and don't really care about what goes on next.

00:28:43 Speaker 1

But when you actually listen, like those change makers listening to the youth and actually want to put some action forward, you know, that's where the change starts.

00:28:50 Speaker 1

So I agree with you.

00:28:51 Speaker 3

I think that like when we talk about hearing people, and I mentioned listening versus that person being heard, I think that

00:29:01 Speaker 3

to help someone feel as if they're being heard and to legitimately let someone be heard really takes so much more than just listening to what they have to say.

00:29:12 Speaker 3

It's a follow-up.

00:29:15 Speaker 3

It's action that shows that you believe in their idea.

00:29:18 Speaker 3

And even if you don't think it's going to be feasible, even if you don't think that this is going to be the next best thing, you figure out how to

00:29:29 Speaker 3

do something with that idea.

00:29:30 Speaker 3

So yeah.

00:29:33 Speaker 2

How do you respond when people say you're too young to lead?

00:29:37 Speaker 3

I think that when people say things like you're too young to lead or you're too this to do this or you're too this to do this, you know, you're not going to convince everyone, right?

00:29:47 Speaker 3

You're not.

00:29:48 Speaker 3

I mean, there's going to be people who just, and maybe this sounds pessimistic, but there are just going to be people who won't listen.

00:29:55 Speaker 3

It is not my job to get that person to listen.

00:29:58 Speaker 3

It's my job to get done when I need to get done.

00:30:01 Speaker 3

And if that person's not willing to listen, that means that they're just not a part of that mission.

00:30:05 Speaker 3

And you know what?

00:30:07 Speaker 3

Their loss.

00:30:08 Speaker 3

Because I think that when you believe in a good idea and something great comes out of it, everyone's going to want a piece of the pie.

00:30:16 Speaker 3

And so when you go back and you say, I wanted to include you in this, but you said I was too this, too that, it's my job as a young person to show up, do it anyway, and

00:30:29 Speaker 3

prove them wrong.

00:30:30 Speaker 3

And I think that that's where, when we're talking about, like, was there a time where I ever didn't believe that I could make it happen?

00:30:41 Speaker 3

That is the thing that will kill any good idea, is that there are going to be people who try to shut you out and say that you're not welcome in a space.

00:30:47 Speaker 3

You got to barge in.

00:30:49 Speaker 3

Sometimes if someone's not listening, you got to yell a little bit louder.

00:30:52 Speaker 3

And

00:30:53 Speaker 3

It's just about continually believing wholeheartedly that your idea and that the mission that you're out on is a worthy one and people will hop on board.

00:31:05 Speaker 1

How can listeners learn more about Pathways or get involved, like if they want to start Pathways where they are in their community?

00:31:11 Speaker 3

I encourage them to reach out to the Dream Center.

00:31:13 Speaker 3

I think that we have an awesome group of people that work at the Dream Center and

00:31:21 Speaker 3

support not just things like pathways, but also other incredible initiatives.

00:31:26 Speaker 3

And there's a lot of people who are willing to, you know, talk more about it.

00:31:31 Speaker 3

I encourage people to, you know, reach out to me on LinkedIn.

00:31:34 Speaker 3

I think that that's a good way to connect about, you know, different ideas like this.

00:31:39 Speaker 3

But yeah, not not every journey is going to be the same.

00:31:45 Speaker 3

Not every

00:31:48 Speaker 3

design of a program or implementation is going to be linear.

00:31:52 Speaker 3

But if anyone wants to learn more about it, reach out to us at the Dream Center and someone will take your call.

00:32:03 Speaker 2

For our listeners who are not longtime listeners, the Dream Center is, we are such big fans of the Dream Center, but the Dream Center is a one-stop shop for foster youth in Kern County.

00:32:12 Speaker 2

We are located at the Dream Center and so is Carter.

00:32:16 Speaker 3

Yeah.

00:32:18 Speaker 2

So your program was just so innovative.

00:32:20 Speaker 2

It got such a cool wrap that you were able to partner with YHDP.

00:32:25 Speaker 2

Can you tell us a little more about what that is?

00:32:28 Speaker 3

Yeah, so YHDP is the Youth Homeless Demonstration Program, and it is a very competitive grant through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, and it aims to enrich exciting initiatives and programs that, you know, serve to uplift

00:32:47 Speaker 3

youth who are experiencing homelessness.

00:32:49 Speaker 3

And the Dream Center was able to receive this incredible grant.

00:32:55 Speaker 3

And through it, one of the things that was implemented in it was the Pathways Program.

00:33:00 Speaker 3

So it was really exciting to learn that my idea was a tiny little puzzle piece in this much bigger puzzle that served to uplift so many youth in our community.

00:33:14 Speaker 2

Something very cool about YHTP is the process is heavily reliant on the community's Youth Action Board.

00:33:22 Speaker 2

And what a Youth Action Board is, a, we have a Youth Action Board here in Crane County.

00:33:26 Speaker 2

I am chair of this Youth Action Board, and it's 10 youth with lived experience of homelessness, former or current, and their goal is to help enrich the community on how they can do better and how we can really support our youth and come around our youth and make sure that we are ending and preventing youth homelessness.

00:33:43 Speaker 2

But you've had the honor of working with them.

00:33:45 Speaker 2

Can you share a little bit about how you were able to collab with the YAB?

00:33:49 Speaker 3

Yes.

00:33:50 Speaker 3

Okay.

00:33:50 Speaker 3

One of my favorite things has been to collab with the YAB.

00:33:54 Speaker 3

We have done what's called Carter classes.

00:33:58 Speaker 3

So although for a long time I claimed that I would probably never be a teacher, I got to, you know, get my feet wet on what it might look like to teach a class.

00:34:12 Speaker 3

We do government classes, talking about how the government works and how your voice can be heard and why your voice is important, who the stakeholders are, how to get them to listen.

00:34:25 Speaker 3

And we do this to ensure that it's not just the Pathways program, but you know, like I was saying, there's a million other great ideas out there and we just need to make sure that people have the tools in their toolkit to be able to achieve

00:34:41 Speaker 3

awesome things.

00:34:41 Speaker 3

And so that's one of the exciting things that I have been very fortunate to be able to be a part of.

00:34:47 Speaker 2

Before Youth Action Board, I originally reached out to Carter because I first off, I felt like he was the perfect person to teach this.

00:34:53 Speaker 2

Second off, a lot of our Youth Action Board members, the Youth Action Board is 18 to 24.

00:35:00 Speaker 2

So after they age out, they love advocating, they love what we do, but where do I go from here?

00:35:04 Speaker 2

So I thought this was a great way to connect them to Carter for advocacy and how to go higher.

00:35:09 Speaker 2

Luckily, we got it locked, right?

00:35:11 Speaker 2

How do I go higher?

00:35:12 Speaker 2

How do I make sure that the town over there, this town over there, that town over there knows that someone's out there advocating for their homeless youth?

00:35:19 Speaker 2

So Carter just felt like the perfect person to bring into the yab and show them how it's done.

00:35:26 Speaker 3

Humbled and honored.

00:35:27 Speaker 1

How do you balance advocating alongside adults while staying grounded in the needs and voices of your peers?

00:35:37 Speaker 3

I think it goes hand in hand.

00:35:40 Speaker 3

I think that to stay grounded, I think that we ought to have a strong floor.

00:35:46 Speaker 3

I think we got to make sure that everyone has their needs met.

00:35:48 Speaker 3

And so I try to remember that when it comes to advocating for an issue that I'm passionate about or supporting someone who's advocating for an issue that they care about.

00:35:59 Speaker 3

It ultimately is just that we all need to be on a level floor and we need to

00:36:07 Speaker 3

help people get to that.

00:36:08 Speaker 3

And so in order for us to stay grounded with the needs of all of our peers, we need to advocate.

00:36:17 Speaker 3

And so I think that it, I really do think it goes hand in hand.

00:36:20 Speaker 1

Now let's talk about your college and your aspirations.

00:36:25 Speaker 1

Now that you're in college, how has your perspective on politics and leadership evolved?

00:36:29 Speaker 3

Well, now that I'm in college, I actually am studying political science full-time.

00:36:35 Speaker 3

It's also been very interesting to see the opportunities that we're able to open up as soon as I turned 18.

00:36:42 Speaker 3

There are things that, are just not available to people because legally you have to be an adult to do.

00:36:51 Speaker 3

And so I have really been able to see this new world of opportunity and experiences.

00:37:02 Speaker 3

Since getting into college, I've been able to collaborate with even more people.

00:37:08 Speaker 3

I've been able to start initiatives on my own campus that engage other people in advocacy.

00:37:14 Speaker 3

And just seeing how that's able to grow has been really, really, really exciting.

00:37:20 Speaker 3

And as always, those opportunities that were afforded to me only because I had such an incredible community behind me, I never forget that.

00:37:30 Speaker 3

And so

00:37:31 Speaker 3

My goal is always to uplift more and more youth as we go along, because the last thing that I want to do is, get on this rocket ship to the moon and end up there alone.

00:37:44 Speaker 3

So if we're not bringing people along the journey, then we're doing it wrong.

00:37:51 Speaker 1

Would you like to elaborate on some of those initiatives that you are doing on your college campuses?

00:37:55 Speaker 1

You can say yes or no.

00:37:56 Speaker 1

It doesn't really matter.

00:37:57 Speaker 3

I'm trying to think of how to word it.

00:38:01 Speaker 3

Yeah.

00:38:02 Speaker 3

Sure.

00:38:03 Speaker 3

So some of the initiatives that I have been fortunate to take part in on campus include, I started a political club on campus.

00:38:13 Speaker 3

And that's been really exciting because especially now that my peers and I are of age to vote,

00:38:20 Speaker 3

it's important that we remain educated on what's happening.

00:38:23 Speaker 3

So during one of the last elections, we actually were out encouraging people to register to vote and making sure that they got out to vote.

00:38:30 Speaker 3

We were there on election day, making sure that people knew that there was a ballot box on campus.

00:38:34 Speaker 3

I was so fortunate to have registered over 250 voters for the first time.

00:38:39 Speaker 3

And studies show that when someone votes for the first time, they tend to vote again.

00:38:42 Speaker 3

And so through that, I have been excited to be able to just remind people that we play a role in our democracy and

00:38:50 Speaker 3

to make sure that they are taking those necessary steps.

00:38:54 Speaker 1

I wish we had a round of applause button on here, but we don't.

00:38:57 Speaker 1

But I love that.

00:38:58 Speaker 2

You should get one of those.

00:39:01 Speaker 2

While you're on campus, would you say that Gen.

00:39:03 Speaker 2

Z is more politically engaged, more vocal, or both?

00:39:06 Speaker 2

Like what do you think drives that energy?

00:39:10 Speaker 3

Social media is hands down probably one of the biggest driving forces for why Gen.

00:39:15 Speaker 3

Z is so politically active and vocal.

00:39:18 Speaker 3

I think it stems from

00:39:19 Speaker 3

the fact that we see so much more of the world around us and it's hard to not care about it when it's all we see.

00:39:30 Speaker 3

you turn on Instagram or you turn on TikTok and going back to the what's a problem for someone across the city is a problem for me.

00:39:39 Speaker 3

Well, that's because now it's what I'm seeing on my phone.

00:39:42 Speaker 3

I open up my phone and I see what's happening across the globe.

00:39:44 Speaker 3

I see what's happening across the country.

00:39:46 Speaker 3

And

00:39:48 Speaker 3

I think that there's this idea that, we have to do something about it.

00:39:53 Speaker 3

And standing by and doing nothing is just not going to cut it.

00:39:57 Speaker 3

And so whatever the issues are that someone might care about, I think this rise in advocacy has been very heartening.

00:40:08 Speaker 2

It sounds like you are a very busy person.

00:40:10 Speaker 2

With all that you were involved in, and I know there's so much more that we're not talking about,

00:40:15 Speaker 2

But how do you define success, both as a leader and as a person?

00:40:21 Speaker 3

That's one of those questions that I feel like I don't know that there's a straightforward answer to.

00:40:27 Speaker 3

I feel like I've heard people ask, like, what is success?

00:40:30 Speaker 3

And sometimes you have people who have this very structured answer.

00:40:34 Speaker 3

I don't know.

00:40:34 Speaker 3

I think that it depends on the situation.

00:40:36 Speaker 3

You know, I think success ultimately stems from trying.

00:40:41 Speaker 3

I think that they're

00:40:43 Speaker 3

Was I successful in getting a bill passed through the House of Representatives and signed by the president?

00:40:48 Speaker 3

No, but I did get that idea implemented on a local level.

00:40:52 Speaker 3

And to me, that is a far greater success because it happened quicker than a bill might have worked or it stayed more similar to the idea.

00:41:04 Speaker 3

And so now we have something that we're able to look at as kind of an example moving forward.

00:41:11 Speaker 3

But I think that

00:41:13 Speaker 3

Success is really just putting your best foot forward and taking all that you can out of the experience.

00:41:24 Speaker 3

Success might look like a lesson.

00:41:25 Speaker 3

It might look like you lost the race, but if you learned, you know, that you got to run a little bit quicker, maybe that's the success.

00:41:37 Speaker 3

And so

00:41:40 Speaker 3

I don't know, cliche again, but I just, I don't think that success fits into one shape.

00:41:44 Speaker 3

I think that it depends on the situation and it's up to each of us to figure out where that success is.

00:41:52 Speaker 1

Yeah, I agree.

00:41:54 Speaker 1

I have my own definition of success and it's kind of just putting yourself in a position to help others, which you've done and you've done it well.

00:42:03 Speaker 1

So I would say you're already a success in my book.

00:42:06 Speaker 3

Thank you.

00:42:07 Speaker 2

I think that I agree with you where it's like there's not a one cookie cutter answer for success, but I think that with all you've done and your age and whether or not you're young or old, you can always do something good, that you've done good things.

00:42:23 Speaker 2

And I feel like that's life, right?

00:42:29 Speaker 2

Like if you lived your life to help others, then you lived a full successful life.

00:42:36 Speaker 2

And that's, I mean, that's the way I live and that's the way that I would want you to live.

00:42:42 Speaker 2

I mean, you are doing it.

00:42:43 Speaker 2

I agree with Brian.

00:42:44 Speaker 2

You're living that life.

00:42:46 Speaker 3

I'm trying.

00:42:48 Speaker 3

I, in all honesty, I couldn't look at the things that I guess I would define as my own personal successes and not look with gratitude to the community leaders and the folks that, you know, have continued to lift me up.

00:43:04 Speaker 3

I think that

00:43:07 Speaker 3

you know, Youth Voice Amplified was the first podcast I ever went on.

00:43:11 Speaker 3

I remember that that was such a just exciting experience.

00:43:15 Speaker 3

I got to sit there and talk, and I remember feeling like, wait, my voice means something to someone.

00:43:21 Speaker 3

And, you know, I think that the conversations that I've had with leaders in our community who were willing to sit down and just turn their ear to me, I think that that's

00:43:34 Speaker 3

I think that the success is shared.

00:43:37 Speaker 3

I think that there's one street where it's people with an idea and who are doing all they can to get an idea to become a reality.

00:43:46 Speaker 3

But the other side is, you know, there's a whole group of people who are cheering you on.

00:43:51 Speaker 3

And I think that those people are just as important.

00:43:52 Speaker 3

So I appreciate the compliments.

00:43:55 Speaker 3

I extend the same to the community that's raised me and helped lift me up.

00:44:00 Speaker 1

If you can give one piece of advice for policymakers or government leaders about youth engagement, what would it be?

00:44:07 Speaker 3

Don't underestimate the power of a youth voice.

00:44:10 Speaker 3

It may not be as sophisticated as someone might expect on Capitol Hill.

00:44:18 Speaker 3

It may not have a bunch of confusing numbers, but it holds the same value and principles, which I think is the most important.

00:44:27 Speaker 3

When we talk about things, especially as it relates to homeless and foster care, there are so many different opportunities to where, if you're talking about best practices, you have to use discretion.

00:44:42 Speaker 3

If you have to, if you're talking about the best interest of a child, you have to use some discretion.

00:44:52 Speaker 3

And so we always talk about spirit of the law.

00:44:54 Speaker 3

I think that to policymakers, I would say that is one thing that no matter how young or how old you are, you can always understand what the spirit of the law should be.

00:45:03 Speaker 3

And that the spirit of the law is always the idea.

00:45:09 Speaker 3

And so if a young person has an idea and it's worthwhile to listen, which it is, that can serve as a really good bedrock for something great to come.

00:45:22 Speaker 2

As we wrap up, sadly, of course, we love talking to you, Carter.

00:45:25 Speaker 2

You're such a good bucket of wisdom, like a Lowe's bucket of wisdom.

00:45:30 Speaker 2

Lowe's sized, maybe a little bit bigger.

00:45:33 Speaker 2

But as wrapping up, when you look back at everything you've done and everything you've been a part of, you've done so much.

00:45:39 Speaker 2

So if it takes you a second, we understand.

00:45:43 Speaker 2

What are you most proud of?

00:45:45 Speaker 3

I'm most proud of the community that I've...

00:45:51 Speaker 3

I'm most proud of the community that I've built along the way.

00:45:54 Speaker 3

And I mean that sincerely, because if I were to just take, one project or one initiative, like, I think things serve an important purpose and they can grow and be expanded upon and sometimes things fade away.

00:46:10 Speaker 3

And but I think that it what I'm most proud of is getting the conversation going.

00:46:18 Speaker 3

meeting with the people that I've met with, making the friends that I've made.

00:46:22 Speaker 3

And I think that I have contributed my part into ruffling some feathers and making sure that people understand that youth do have a voice that's worthwhile to listen to.

00:46:36 Speaker 3

And I think I'm most proud of that because I think that has a much stronger ripple effect than any single project that I might have done.

00:46:44 Speaker 1

Looking into the future a little bit before we kind of wrap up, where do you see yourself in the next 5 to 10 years?

00:46:49 Speaker 1

If you have an answer for that.

00:46:52 Speaker 3

I wish I knew.

00:46:56 Speaker 3

One of my favorite quotes is, if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.

00:46:59 Speaker 3

And I believe that because I will set a, you know, a yearly plan for myself and I'll be like, well, by this month, I'm going to do this.

00:47:08 Speaker 3

By this month, I'm going to do this.

00:47:10 Speaker 3

And things just flip on their heads.

00:47:13 Speaker 3

And

00:47:14 Speaker 3

The one thing that I have learned is you got to go with the flow.

00:47:17 Speaker 3

You just got to go where the wind takes you.

00:47:19 Speaker 3

Instead of saying, I'm going to do X, Y, and Z at X, Y, Z point in my life, I have decided to say, I'm going to figure out when, I'm going to cross the bridge as it comes, you know, and where the wind takes me, I know that I will end up where I'm meant to go.

00:47:35 Speaker 3

And as opportunities present themselves, I will evaluate them and I'll do what I think

00:47:44 Speaker 3

I lived my life by the quote that we must do the most amount of good to the most amount of people, the most amount at the time.

00:47:50 Speaker 3

And so in five years, I see myself continuing to do that.

00:47:55 Speaker 1

Are there any questions you wish we asked you?

00:47:59 Speaker 3

No, I don't think so.

00:48:02 Speaker 2

I'm glad we're very thorough with it.

00:48:05 Speaker 2

Lastly, and you know, this might be a repeat or it might be something new, but what is your life motto?

00:48:11 Speaker 1

I wonder if you just said it.

00:48:13 Speaker 3

Yeah, I think I would say that my life motto is do the most amount of good to the most amount of people the most amount of the time.

00:48:21 Speaker 3

I think that if you do that and you live honestly, you live a good life where you help others.

00:48:25 Speaker 3

And I think that that's all anyone could ask for.

00:48:29 Speaker 1

I wonder if that was your life motto the last time too, in the last episode.

00:48:33 Speaker 2

We have to we have to look back.

00:48:34 Speaker 1

We have to look back.

00:48:35 Speaker 1

We have to double check.

00:48:38 Speaker 2

Carter, it has been so amazing to have you on the podcast again, not only as a co-worker, but I would hope as a friend.

00:48:47 Speaker 2

And it's been amazing to see what you do with the life that you've given.

00:48:51 Speaker 2

And you know, I love that you are all for Kern County and our community and making sure that you may not have gotten the big bill or whatever, but you got us.

00:49:01 Speaker 2

You stood on business and you make sure that

00:49:04 Speaker 2

Whenever there's something to advocate, you're always the first person to raise your hand and say, I got it.

00:49:08 Speaker 2

I'll scream this from the mountaintops.

00:49:09 Speaker 2

I love that about you.

00:49:10 Speaker 2

And I love that you're not one of those people who, that's not my problem.

00:49:13 Speaker 2

I didn't go through this.

00:49:14 Speaker 2

It's not my problem.

00:49:15 Speaker 2

I have other things to worry about.

00:49:16 Speaker 2

You are focused on your community.

00:49:18 Speaker 2

You are focused on the people who need you.

00:49:20 Speaker 2

And

00:49:22 Speaker 2

I cannot tell you how inspired I am.

00:49:24 Speaker 2

I cannot tell you how excited I am to see where you go.

00:49:27 Speaker 2

I will always be a stalker in the shadows for you.

00:49:30 Speaker 2

I am the biggest Carter Beardsley fan.

00:49:32 Speaker 2

If you ever had a cult, sign me up.

00:49:36 Speaker 1

Hold on, wait, a minute.

00:49:37 Speaker 1

Colts, it's crazy.

00:49:38 Speaker 1

No, I'm just kidding.

00:49:40 Speaker 1

And I would like to thank you too, Carter, for

00:49:42 Speaker 1

coming back on our show and also, creating change within our community, not just community.

00:49:46 Speaker 1

I mean, it's gonna spread as well, like throughout the world.

00:49:50 Speaker 1

And, you've done a lot at such a young age, and I'm excited to see where you go next.

00:49:56 Speaker 1

So keep doing what you're doing.

00:49:58 Speaker 3

I appreciate you guys.

00:49:59 Speaker 3

Thank you.

00:50:04 Speaker 2

Carter is one of those people who like really

00:50:07 Speaker 2

makes you excited for the future, especially his future and what he can do in Bakersfield and in Kern County, but bigger than that.

00:50:13 Speaker 2

Like I hope he goes on to do such amazing, well I know, he will go on to do such amazing things, but on a political level, I really just, I can't wait to see what he does.

00:50:23 Speaker 1

He is definitely the definition of being a leader for sure.

00:50:26 Speaker 1

All I know is with all the work he's doing and continues to do, that guy's going places.

00:50:32 Speaker 2

I love that he has a heart for giving back to those who need it most.

00:50:36 Speaker 2

I love that he may not have experienced it, but it matters to him.

00:50:41 Speaker 2

I feel like with the topic of homelessness in foster care, there's a lot of shame that comes with those.

00:50:47 Speaker 2

Whether you're feeling it or you feel like you would be shamed, I feel like Carter was one of those people that like I wish I had in my day.

00:50:53 Speaker 2

I wish I had somebody who I could open up to and say, hey, I'm going through something hard.

00:50:57 Speaker 2

And I feel like he is one of those people who would help you with that something hard, who would say, let me put my stuff down.

00:51:05 Speaker 2

Let me put aside what I'm going through and really focus on how I can be here for you and be the community for you.

00:51:10 Speaker 2

And I'm so glad that he is so in love with the community that he has built.

00:51:15 Speaker 2

And I'm glad that he has that community.

00:51:17 Speaker 2

because we wouldn't have the Carter we have today without that community.

00:51:21 Speaker 1

And I feel like that's what makes him a true leader.

00:51:23 Speaker 1

Like, even though he hasn't went through things like homelessness or foster care, he cares enough to say, your problems are my problems, and I'm willing to help you shed a voice on these things.

00:51:35 Speaker 2

I think we are so lucky to have a Carter of Beardsley, and I know he said there's...

00:51:40 Speaker 2

There's going to be more Carters, but I don't believe that.

00:51:43 Speaker 2

I believe that we have Carter, and we might have people like Carter, and we might have youth that are inspired by Carter, but we will never have another Carter Beardsley who is so dedicated and driven to making change for those who need it the most.

00:51:57 Speaker 2

I think not only does this, I mean, of course, it's amazing for Carter and who he is, but in the long term, it really

00:52:05 Speaker 2

It kind of builds the stairs to the first house, if you will, of student voice.

00:52:10 Speaker 2

You know, we'll look back on Carter and say, look how young he was.

00:52:13 Speaker 2

I feel like as we keep going as a community, as we really push forward, we're really going to use that as the template to move forward, right?

00:52:21 Speaker 2

More people are going to want to invest in youth voice.

00:52:24 Speaker 2

More people are going to want to have a seat at the table where youth are and say, you know, Carter did a really amazing job.

00:52:32 Speaker 2

I believe in youth voice.

00:52:34 Speaker 2

I believe that if we continue to invite youth to these tables, if we continue to do that, we will build a beautiful community.

00:52:43 Speaker 1

Yeah, and I feel like he really created a platform for students to share their voice.

00:52:48 Speaker 1

Like, he's literally like the blueprint on how to...

00:52:50 Speaker 1

really get those initiatives going.

00:52:52 Speaker 2

Not only that, but we see like how well youth voice can do with the support of schools, teachers, people, people in power.

00:53:01 Speaker 2

We see how far he's gone and how far he will continue to go with the backing of that supportive adult.

00:53:07 Speaker 2

Maybe it was one, maybe it was 10.

00:53:09 Speaker 2

What supportive adults mean to youth who are trying to use their voice, you know, who want to say, hey, this is something I see as a problem and I want to fix it.

00:53:18 Speaker 2

Can you help me?

00:53:19 Speaker 2

How do I start?

00:53:20 Speaker 2

Where can I start?

00:53:20 Speaker 2

Whether it's in their school, whether it's in their community, whether it's in their state, like however far they go, if they have those adults who are willing to say, I'll put all my money on you because I believe in what you're saying and I believe in your voice, it just shows how far we can go.

00:53:39 Speaker 2

And Carter is a perfect example of that.

00:53:42 Speaker 2

As we wrap up this episode, we hope you found our conversations illuminating and inspiring.

00:53:47 Speaker 2

The stories that are shared today share the importance of listening and advocating for our youth, especially those with lived experience.

00:53:55 Speaker 1

If you or someone you know can relate to the topics we've discussed, if you're interested in finding out our show notes or any of our recommended resources for our episodes, be sure to check out our website at www.kern.org/yva.

00:54:07 Speaker 1

We'd love to hear from you.

00:54:08 Speaker 1

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, or would like to suggest a topic or guest, feel free to reach us at youthvoiceamplified@gmail.com.

00:54:16 Speaker 2

We encourage you to take action, whether it's engaging with local organizations, volunteering your time, or simply reaching out to a young person in your community.

00:54:24 Speaker 2

Every effort counts.

00:54:25 Speaker 2

Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast for more stories and insights.

00:54:29 Speaker 2

And feel free to share this episode with your network to help spread awareness.

00:54:34 Speaker 2

Join us for our next episode when Brian and I sit down with our next youth storyteller.

00:54:38 Speaker 2

Thanks for listening and see you next time.

00:54:40 Speaker 1

And we out of here.

00:54:43 Speaker 4

Youth Voice Amplified is a youth-led project of the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office, created, produced, and hosted by Janessa Fisher and Brian Johnson, with writing, research, and additional production support by Kim Silva, Allison Baptiste, and the Kern Educational Television Network.

00:55:01 Speaker 4

Major funding for the Youth Voice Amplified podcast is provided by the Student Achievement and Support Division of the California Department of Education through the Homeless Innovative Program Grant.

00:55:12 Speaker 4

Thanks for listening.