Justin was born and raised in Angola, Indiana, USA and a 2002 graduate of Hamilton Community Schools.  His parents are Ed and Susan Ralston both from Angola, grandparents Bill and Virginia Ralston of Pleasant Lake, IN and the late Betty and Leonard Senger of Fremont, IN.  He was a 10-year 4-H member and the Steuben County Achievement winner in 2000, Steuben County Fair King in 2002 and the 2002 Indiana 4-H Foundation Leadership award winner.

            Justin completed his undergraduate study in secondary social studies education at Indiana University in 2006.  He taught middle school social studies in Bloomington, IN for the 2007-2008 school year.  Justin then attended Howard University in Washington, DC to earn Master of Social Work specializing in refugees and displaced populations in 2009.

            Justin’s international experience first began in 2005 when he studied Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.  In March 2006 Justin left for a 3-month teaching experience in rural Kenya.  Justin has returned to East Africa eight times, most recently June – August 2011 to work on developing Refugees Read, Inc. in Kyangwali Refugee Settlement Camp in Uganda.  During July 2009 Justin also traveled to Sierra Leone and Liberia, West Africa to volunteer at the Center for Peace Education based in Monrovia, Liberia.

            Currently Justin is the special education coordinator at a high school in Prince George's County, Maryland, only a few miles from Washington, DC.  Justin looks forward to empowering and connecting people from the US and throughout the world.  His next trip to East Africa is scheduled for the summer of 2012.