Youth in Florida had no way to get information on their benefits, protections, and legal rights in foster care—now they have it! FosterPower, an LSC TIG-funded project created and managed by Bay Area Legal Services (Tampa, Fla.), launched a groundbreaking free app, website, and video series giving Florida's foster youth access to easy, digestible information about life skills and independent living, rights to healthcare, education, legal protections, and much more. The initiative is the first of its kind nationwide.

Current and former youth in Florida foster care were involved in every aspect of the project—initial market research and ideation, content review and editing, selecting a name and branding, and ongoing user testing. The FosterPower team will share the lessons they learned along the way—the good and the bad—and, most importantly, how they kept their audience at the center of the creation and development process.

As a result of this session, you will be able to:
• Learn simple methods to work with your target audience, which includes vulnerable populations, to develop a product.
• Learn and understand the technology and tools behind FosterPower and how you can use it.
• Learn and identify ways to promote your product through marketing and outreach to hard-to-reach or otherwise disenfranchised groups.
• Learn how to create a product or service focused on a niche target audience.
• Learn the blueprint that made FosterPower possible and bring it to your State.

In addition to information sharing by presenters, attendees will be invited to download the FosterPower app and participate in a live demo, similar to training provided to youth in foster care, used to both educate youth about their rights but also as a way for the FosterPower team to learn from the youth (a mix of user testing, focus group, etc.) and make improvements. The session will close with Q&A and open sharing.