A senior program associate with Think of Us, Ricky Holder works on the California Kin Accelerator Pilot Project, an initiative across eight counties aimed at increasing the number of children placed with kin rather than in foster care. His work is informed by his own experience in the foster care system and centers on reducing the poverty and instability that can contribute to family separation.
Holder spent 10 years in foster care before enlisting in the U.S. Navy, where he served for six years as an information systems technician. He later studied economics at Foothill College and earned a bachelor’s degree in public policy, specializing in inequality, from the University of Chicago, where he received the inaugural Hugo F. Sonnenschein Medal of Excellence.
As a Marshall Scholar, Holder earned a master’s degree in comparative social policy from the University of Oxford. His research examined how advanced countries prevent child maltreatment and entry into out-of-home care.
