Sixto Cancel

Sixto Cancel is the Founder and CEO of Think of Us (TOU), a nonprofit working to transform the nation’s foster care system into a Child and Family Well-Being System. A former foster youth, Sixto has built one of the most innovative organizations in the social sector—mobilizing federal and state governments to redesign policy and practice, advancing new models of kinship and lasting family connections, addressing the challenges young people face when aging out of foster care, and centering lived experience as a driver of systems change. His TED Talk on transforming foster care has been viewed over a million times worldwide. In 2023, TOU became the first lived experience–led organization in child welfare to receive a major “big bet” investment from TED’s Audacious Project, raising $47.5 million to drive systemic reform. Under Sixto’s leadership, TOU has built the **largest dataset of foster youth voices—50,000 strong—**shaping more than $400 million in federal funds, launched the Center for Lived Experience whose research influenced national policy and Supreme Court arguments, and created Virtual Support Services across multiple states to meet youth needs in real time. Sixto’s leadership has been recognized widely: he is an Audacious Project Grantee, Schmidt Innovation Fellow, White House Champion of Change, Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Ashoka Fellow, Jim Casey Fellow, Fast Forward Alum, and Children’s Bureau Champion. His lived experience powers a lifelong commitment to building a child welfare system where every child and family can heal, develop, and thrive.