370: Why Mentorship Fails Without Shared Lived Experience

Martha Trujillo joins Dr. Sandie Morgan to ask what changes when communities stop seeing vulnerable youth as problems to be managed and start seeing them as young people in need of support.

About Martha Trujillo

Martha Trujillo is the founder of Full Circle Orange County, an organization dedicated to supporting risk-impacted and at-risk students through mentorship, education, and community. Her work is informed by lived experience: she grew up in Orange County and faced significant challenges as a young person, including foster care, gang involvement, expulsion from school, juvenile detention, substance use, and victimization. She now uses her story to guide and empower students facing similar obstacles. Trujillo holds a master’s degree in criminology from UC Irvine and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from California State University, Fullerton, and is preparing to pursue a doctorate in education at UC Irvine. Through Full Circle, she practices “diversion through mentorship,” combining workshops, re-entry support, and one-on-one guidance for youth in schools, group homes, and detention centers across Orange County and beyond.

Chapters

(00:00) - Introduction

(01:09) - Know More, Do Better and Full Circle Orange County

(05:50) - Martha's Journey: Foster Care, Gangs, and Juvenile Hall

(12:49) - Feeding Before Teaching: An Approach Built on Lived Experience

(15:39) - Why Prevention Must Start Earlier

(21:15) - Mentorship, Lived Experience, and Dual Status Kids

(27:53) - Hopes for Full Circle and Coming Full Circle

Key Points