Natalie Nicole Clark

Natalie Nicole Clark in Action

Systems & Policy

Direct Practice & Mentorship

National Leadership

Nearly a decade inside Utah's child welfare system and national policy circles — from DCFS's inaugural Transition to Adult Living Assistant Coordinator role (managing a 300% increase in Chafee funding) to congressional briefings on the Family First Prevention Services Act.

National Leadership

Direct Practice & Mentorship

National Leadership

Board Chair, National Collaborative for Transformative Youth Policy.

Lived Experience Leader with FosterClub.

Contributing Author to the Improving Outcomes for Young Adults Playbook

Direct Practice & Mentorship

Co- Founder of 1999 Collective, MSW, A decade of mentoring from Peer Mentor in 2014 to shaping statewide Youth Advisory Councils today

Natalies life work

Leadership

Guardian Ad Litem Oversight Committee- Inaugural Lived Experience Member -2026
Board Chair, National Collaborative for Transformative Youth Policy - 2025
Vice President, Salt Lake County Youth Services Youth Action Board - 2025
Foster Care Liaison, Salt Lake County Youth Services Youth Action Board - 2021-2025
Selection Committee Member, SLVCEH Strategic Planning Consultant RFP - 2026
Co-Creator, National TAY Collaborative Playbook - 2024-present
Mayor's Office of Homelessness and Criminal Justice Reform Code Blue Task Force - 2023
Designer, Foster Youth Scholarship - 2023/2024
DCFS Lived Experience Member, Utah Court Improvement Program - 2022
Lived Expert, Salt Lake Valley Coalition to End Homelessness Task Group - 2021-present
Member, National Quality Improvement Center on Engaging Youth in Permanency - 2021
Utah Ambassador, Foster Youth Voice Month - 2021-present
All-Star Lived Experience Intern, FosterClub - 2020
President, DCFS State Youth Advisory Council - 2019-2020
Vice President, DCFS State Youth Advisory Council - 2018-2019
Youth Ambassador, Children's Bureau - 2018 & 2019
Lived Experience Advisor to Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Family First Services Prevention Act - 2019
Lived Experience Leader, FosterClub - 2020-present
All-Star Lived Experience Intern, FosterClub - 2020
Salt Lake County Youth Services Peer Mentor - 2015

Speaking & Events

Consultant, Bipartisan Policy Center & Annie E. Casey Foundation - Blueprint for Child Welfare Financing and Accountability Reform, 2026
Speaker, National Collaborative for Transition Age Youth National Legislative Hill Day — 2026
Presenter, National Collaborative for Transition Age Youth Virtual Workshops & Webinars — 2026
Keynote Speaker, Utah Foster Care Annual Symposium — 2026
Co-Designer, UCONN Youth Track Conference — 2025
Focus Group Moderator, YHDP — 2025
Keynote Speaker, Youth in Transition Policy Summit — 2025
Presenter, APHSA Summit — 2025
Keynote Speaker, Florida Statewide Foster Youth Graduation — 2025
Panelist, Utah Homelessness Summit, Youth Homelessness Discussion — 2025
Panelist / Speaker / Keynote Speaker, Utah DHHS Youth in Transition Policy Summit - Panelist

(2021), Speaker (2022, 2023), Keynote Speaker (2024, 2025)

• Congressional Advocate, National Foster Care Month Congressional Advocacy - 2024

Speaker, Juvenile Judges Conference — 2024
Speaker, AGO AAG's Conference — 2024
Speaker, Daniel Memorial Growing Pains Session — 2024
Fishbowl Presenter, National Lived Experience Conference — 2024
Participant, Our Voices Our Vision Policy Roundtables — 2024
Congressional Speaker, Chafee Fostering Independence Act 25th Anniversary — 2024
Presenter, Child Welfare League of America — 2023
Briefing Participant, U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, Congregate Care — 2023
Speaker, Teen to Adult Healthcare Transition Summit — 2023
Lived Expert Co-Host, National Think Tank — 2023
Congressional Briefing Participant, National Foster Care Month — 2022
Roundtable Participant, U.S. Government Accountability Office LGBTQ2S+ Roundtable — 2021
Youth Advocate, Staff Briefing for the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, Family First Services
Prevention Act — August 2021
Participant, U.S. Senate Committee on Finance Staff Briefing - September 2021

Awards

Suazo Social Justice Macro Practice Award, Achievement and Promise in Social Advocacy and
Activism — University of Utah
Certificate of Leadership, Social Justice and Community Practice, University of Utah
College of Social Work Alumni Association Outstanding Student Award, Dedicated Service to the Practice of Social Work — University of Utah
Dean's List, University of Utah (BS Social Work) and Salt Lake Community College (AS Social Work)
Co-Wrote Successfully Awarded $2.7M Grant, Youth Homelessness Demonstration Grant
Certified Peer Support Specialist and CITI Program certification

Academic Publications

Rose, J., Amodt, S., Burke, Canham, S., Clark, N., et al. "Cold Hard Cash": The Value of Direct Unconditional Compensation for People With Lived Expertise of Homelessness. Health Expectations, 29(2026): e70708.

Clark, N., De La Torre, R., Gustafson, E. L., et al. Children and Families. In Homelessness: A Clinical Guide for Providing Mental Health Care for People Experiencing Homelessness (2026).

Amodt, S., Burke, Y., Canham, S., Clark, N., et al. Guidelines for Conducting Research on Homelessness in Partnership with Lived Experts: Learnings from Utah (2024).

Non-Academic Publications

Co-authored the national publication "Improving Outcomes for Young Adults and the Systems that Serve

Them: A Playbook of Best Practices

The Salt Lake Tribune, "Helping young Utahns with their mental health 'put the power back' in her story"

Deseret News, "One woman's journey out of foster care and the daunting task of 'aging out' for vulnerable youths" — February