In this Alumni Spotlight Q&A, Justin Fogarty shares his journey from UCSB student to founder of Talk A Mile, a program dedicated to fostering dialogue and understanding between youth and law enforcement. He reflects on his decision to attend UCSB, drawn by the campus’s natural beauty and strong academic programs in Geography and Environmental Studies. Justin discusses how his studies deepened his curiosity about the environment and people, shaping his approach to leadership and communication. After graduation, his commitment to community engagement led him to launch Talk A Mile in the wake of the 2020 protests, creating meaningful spaces for young leaders and police trainees to connect and build trust.
What drew you to UCSB for your undergraduate years?
I grew up in Tennessee, and my family had just moved to Orange County when I was going into my senior year of high school. So I honestly didn’t know a great deal about the schools in California. But when I heard about UCSB and then saw it —for somebody that grew up in Tennessee–it was hard to pass it up! I mean, it’s just such an incredibly beautiful place, and knowing that it had majors that I was interested in, it just seemed like a pretty amazing school. I was really excited about being a Gaucho.
You doubled in Geography and Environmental Studies while at UCSB. How did you decide on those majors, and how did your academic experience shape the work you do today?
I was already interested in the environment, so that definitely drew me to both of those majors. But I think part of the spark for it was the natural environment in Santa Barbara. For example, looking at the mountains right behind us, you can see geology in real life. And you look out the other direction at Campus Point, and you can see oceanography right in front of you. And you look out over the horizon and you see weather coming at us–and that's meteorology right there. So I think those things all just really made what I could study feel real. And I really appreciated that.
As far as shaping the work I do today, it helped with critical thinking, research, being able to create an argument, craft a piece of content or a point of view and communicate those things effectively. I use those skills from my time at UCSB every day.
You’ve mentioned that one of the biggest lessons you took from UCSB was learning to appreciate the beauty in people being different. Can you tell me more about that realization and how it’s influenced you since?
Like a lot of young people, as an 18-year-old, I thought “my people” at school would be people that listened to the same music, dressed the same and had some of the same interests. But the time that I spent in the dorms—Anacapa, by the way, 2200 Hall—I was exposed to so many people that came from such different parts of California and had such varied experiences and interests. Whether that was music or movies or sports, just to have those different perspectives and get to know people I had never had the opportunity to meet before. I just really appreciated that and the hours spent chopping it up with people in the lounge, or going out and playing frisbee golf or volleyball, or going to the beach or whatever activities we could find. I found connection with people that were different from me. It really helped me to understand that everybody's got a story to tell. If you approach people with curiosity about , getting to know someone else’s story can be incredibly rewarding.
Curiosity really drives everything that we do with our work with Talk A Mile, so that’s one lessonof the lessons that I began to learnlearned as a college freshman andall the way through my final year there. It really helped me kind of understand how to approach different places and different spaces you might find yourself in with that curiosity and kindness.
What memory do you look back on most fondly during your time at UCSB?
This may not be for everyone, but I was a member of the cycling team, so some of my fondest memories are suffering up Gibraltar Road with my teammates!
You launched Talk A Mile in the wake of the 2020 protests. What inspired this idea, and how did it evolve from concept to action?
As a family, we participated in a lot of the peaceful protests, and it meant a lot to me to know that people cared about young men like my son, Liam. But we’d always end up at home—where I'm sitting right now at our kitchen table—after any of those marches, just asking the same questions: “What’s next?” and “How can we help?”
We felt like there was a real opportunity to elevate the voices of young leaders, young Black leaders, in conversations about policing, public safety and community. There were a lot of those conversations happening, but people with good intentions, were too willing to speak for these young leaders rather than invite them speak for themselves. So that really inspired us to start the work.
An educator I worked with at one point told me something that I think also really inspires this work: “You never want to say anything for a student that they can say for themselves.” So with that as our guiding principle, we had this idea of connecting the students with local law enforcement, police trainees, for one-on-one conversations – building bridges and developing their sense of agencyas they’re coming up. The students are just getting started. They’ll go on to start careers, families, businesses, continue to grow as leaders and those police trainees are going to serve the community for decades to come. So we thought, “What better time to connect them than right now?”
What kind of impact have you seen from Talk A Mile, both for the students involved and the communities it’s reached?
On the student side, they feel like they are seen and heard, and that they're eager for more opportunities to better themselves and their communities. From law enforcement, we often hear that this is the most impactful part of their training, and that they really value this opportunity to hear from some young people, which is not something they typically get. Oftentimes, their training is a lot like college, where you're in a classroom environment. Having a chance to connect directly with people is really important. It gives them a good opportunity to practice connecting with young people, too.
And as we've increasingly invited elected officials and civic leaders into these conversations, they tell us that this is a really unique opportunity. They get a chance to hear the questions, concerns, and ideas that come directly from some of their younger constituents.
As for impact, in the first three years of our program, every single new police officer in the city of Portland has been through the program. So far, we've had over 600 participants, and have begun expanding the program into different communities. We’re going deeper and wider in the Portland area and piloted the program in Denver, Colorado. We have interest from places as far-ranging as Honolulu, Seattle, Salt Lake City and New York City. We're excited about it! It’s just a matter of figuring out how to do it and finding the funding needed to support the work at scale.
Through Talk A Mile, you’ve helped people from different walks of life better understand each other. What advice would you give to students who want to create meaningful change in their communities?
Approaching things with curiosity is key. But I would also highly recommend to get off of social and go do something social. You'd be amazed how much is out there, how many opportunities there are, and how close you actually are to the levers of power and to people who hold important positions—whether that's in the professional world, the academic world, or civic institutions and elected leadership. You're actually a lot closer to those than you might think.
Get out and get involved. And if that kind of thing, civic engagement, isn't your thing, there are certainly opportunities to improve your own health – physical and mental – as well as your community.
What’s next for you and Talk A Mile?
We're taking the program deeper and wider. Students are interested in more opportunities to participate in these conversations, so we’re looking for opportunities to continue the conversations. We're piloting a school-based program this year, where we connect students with educators, teachers, staffers, administrators, and coaches for 1:1 conversations within the school community. We're also working to expand Talk A Mile into new cities and new communities.
What would you tell a prospective student considering attending UCSB?
It’s the best six or seven years of your life! I would highly recommend UCSB. It’s an incredible place with wonderful people. UCSB attracts top-tier educators, professors who are the world’s foremost experts in this or that, and want to live in one of the most beautiful places on earth. So you really do have access to amazing opportunities to learn. But also, just the physical layout of the place is incredible. You can get out and truly learn things in the real world, too.
But I would say, I think my biggest advice for anybody going to UCSB would be: when you get there, say yes. You’ll be presented with a lot of different opportunities, and some of them are unique. You’ll only get those opportunities at that point in your life. So say yes and really make the most of your time at UCSB.
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