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Lisa Cohen was born in Washington, DC and placed in the now-defunct Junior Village with her four brothers, who despite having a living parent became wards of the DC foster care system. As a foster child, she underwent thirteen, often shocking and traumatic placements until finally entering the Independent Living system prior to aging out.

She became a professional boxer in 1996 at the age of 28 and fought under the name of Lisa “Too Fierce” Foster. During her career, she won two World Titles. After her retirement from boxing in 2003, she established and ran a boxing and fitness gym in DC.

Lisa’s new book, Too Fierce, chronicles her experience within the DC foster system and her discovery of the sport of boxing as a way to escape the fears, insecurity and bitterness brought about by her ill treatment at the hands of foster families who were expected to love and protect her.

In 2005, Lisa started and managed a non-profit called Capitol City Champs which was geared to life coaching, fitness, dressing for success, and etiquette for at-risk children aged 8 – 18. As an offshoot to this enterprise, Ms. Cohen undertook a number of motivational speaking engagements and career days aimed at women, children and young adults, and governmental agencies engaged in foster care.

She continues to speak about foster care to interested groups and is an active member of Rotary Club of Washington DC which has proudly served the community for over a century.

She graduated from the University of the District of Columbia in 2012 with a BA degree in English at the age of 45.

She lives in Washington, DC with her second husband, Neil, an attorney. She has a grown son, Gerald Foster and a daughter, Taylor Foster.