Dear Friends: The Annual Youth and Alumni Leadership Summit represents youth-driven advocacy in its truest form. Youth leaders from across the state come together to reimagine and reform Washington state’s child welfare system. Over two days, they speak directly to systems leaders about issues they know firsthand — CPS removals from home, a lack of reflective foster homes, and overburdened social workers. While much progress is being made in the child welfare sector, our youth leaders know firsthand there is still much work to be done. They come together to work in partnership with The Office of Homeless Youth, the Supreme Court Commission on Children in Foster Care, and the Department of Children, Youth, and Families to develop actionable solutions to these issues.

Power of One
Avrey Tuttle

In 4th grade I started to learn about slavery. Every time the topic of racial inequality, Martin Luther King Jr., or when the true story of Pocahontas came up my cheeks would burn, my palms would sweat, and my heart would pound as I looked around the room and saw all the white faces outnumbering me, including my teacher. In my 13 years of schooling, I did not have a single teacher of color. In 8th grade we watched the TV show “Roots.” Before we started the show, my history teacher bent down next to my desk and not so quietly said “if at any point you get uncomfortable watching this feel free to let yourself out and take a walk to cool down.” I was taken aback; he didn’t say this to anyone else. Looking around the room I understood why. I was the only person of color in that classroom.