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Maria Batista – Florida Youth SHINE Statewide Coordinator

Maria Batista has joined the Florida’s Children First staff as the Florida Youth SHINE Statewide Coordinator. Maria’s professional and educational background coupled with her lived experience in the foster care system equips her with the tools, skills, and perspective to empower youth to become leaders and advocates around the State of Florida.

Maria received her bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Florida International University. Prior to this role, Maria worked at the Guardian ad Litem program and with youth experiencing homelessness at Vita Nova.

Maria is a dedicated advocate and speaker for child welfare reform. She has worked on key legislation and policies that have improved thousands of children’s lives in care. Her passion and advocacy journey began right here in Florida Youth SHINE as a teenager, when she became a member of Florida Youth SHINE. Growing up, Maria spent seven years in the Florida Foster Care system and saw the injustices that youth experienced first-hand. That drove her to devote her career to empowering youth to use their voices and lived expertise to make positive change in the foster care system while providing a safe and inclusive environment for all youth who have experienced the foster care system.

With her years of experience with FYS, she has seen how youth are the movers and shakers and the ones who are committed to improving the foster care system.  Maria is ecstatic to join the Florida’s Children First Team in this role, and provide opportunities to ensure youth have an authentic voice and are included in all discussions and decisions about the child welfare system and their lives.

Please Contact Maria HERE.

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Alexia Nechayev

FYS Events & Meeting Chair
(Palm Beach/Miami)

Alexia Nechayev, from Miami, Florida, is a dedicated advocate for youth with lived experience in foster care and with homelessness. After being placed in foster care as a teenager, Alexia experienced firsthand the stigma surrounding the system, as well as the challenges of navigating a system that didn’t provide support for her to advocate for herself. This experience motivated her to create change, ensuring that other youth in care have the tools and resources she lacked.

She graduated with a B.A. in Psychology from Florida International University, and upon graduation worked as a Hope Navigator with the Department of Children and Families which allowed her to assist clients through individualized care plans, further deepening her commitment to improving the lives of marginalized youth. Alexia is now applying to law schools with the goal of advancing her advocacy work through a legal career. As the Events and Meetings Chair for Florida Youth SHINE (FYS), she creates opportunities for foster and homeless youth to collaborate and push for meaningful change. She is also an active member of the Policy and Initiative Team for Florida Youth SHINE, where she helps create and shape policies that directly impact youth in foster care. One of her proudest accomplishments is helping to develop the Foster Care Bill of Rights, a law that she feels would have made a difference during her own time in care.

In addition to her work with FYS, Alexia serves on the Board of Directors for the parent organization of FYS, Florida’s Children First. In this role, she contributes to strategic decision-making while advocating for the rights and welfare of children statewide.

Every year, she travels to the state capitol to advocate for bills she and her peers have helped shape, including key pieces of legislation that benefit foster and homeless youth. However her advocacy extends beyond her state, as she represents Florida Youth SHINE at national conferences such as the National Leaders 4 Change Conference.

Through her internship with the National Foster Youth Institute, Alexia continues to refine her advocacy skills, preparing for a future where she can contribute meaningfully to both policymaking and the legal system. Guided by the belief that “the blue sky is always there,” she remains committed to ensuring that every youth in foster care has the power and support to advocate for themselves.

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