Author: Sarah Durham

Lauren Day and Katya Miltimore from our State Association team were joined by Dianna Sullivan from BGC of South Puget Sound, Francesca Matias from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and Carmen Irving from PAXIS Institute to present about WA Clubs’ ongoing youth mental health promotion work at the National Mentoring Summit in Washington DC on January 29th-31st. 

Besides sharing the impact and outcomes of our programming with the practitioner and funder audience, the team also led participants in hands-on exercises on envisioning similar practices at their local youth development organizations. Katya and Lauren also attended other workshops and brought back some new ideas for statewide and local work with youth on leadership and mental health.

Here at Boys & Girls Clubs of Washington, we are celebrating a very productive and impactful year for our 170 Clubs throughout the state! 

We’ve deepened our reach into communities of need by providing intentional prevention and promotion programs and services, thanks to funding from the State of WA and our private philanthropic partners.  We’ve welcomed new Native American Club organizations from the Yakama and Quinault Indian Nations to consider membership and collaboration with the State Association.  We’ve grown our Medicaid program by leaps and bounds, effectively providing free Club membership to thousands more Apple Health families throughout the state thanks to our enduring and invaluable partnerships with all five of the state’s Medicare providers.  In 2024, our Youth of the Year and Keystone Teen Leadership Summit programs continued to grow and add more value for our teen Club members throughout the state.  Overall, 2024 was a year of sustained growth, program quality improvement, deepening impact through staff and leadership training, and increased and growing collaboration between our member organizations, supporting one another in their mission to empower all youth, especially those who need us most, to realize their full potential as productive, caring and responsible citizens.  We welcome continued community support, either at a local level, or in partnership with the State Association, to give many more kids and teens an opportunity to attend a Boys & Girls Club, and its life changing programs! 

As its main mission and focus areas, our State Association facilitates advocacy, programmatic investments, and teen leadership events for its member Club organizations. 

Large scale investments secured by BGCWA help local Clubs launch and maintain life-changing programs for Club kids, focused on academic success, healthy lifestyles and character development. The State Association increasingly plays another key role, by facilitating professional development events for Club professionals. This November, Club resource development professionals gathered for a day of training, learning new skills in major gift solicitation, and developing a culture of philanthropy, with the latter presented by Susan Howlett, a renown national expert on this topic. Bellevue Clubs, as the summit’s hosting organization, shared a dynamic presentation on peer-to-peer fundraising. 

The following week, as part of our ongoing Mental Health Promotion Pilot, funded by OSPI and the Norcliffe Foundation, all Clubs were able to send their Behavioral Support Specialists for two days to SeaTac to participate in professional development. Workshops covered topics of better supports for neurodivergent youth and effective communication with youth, families and coworkers facilitated by Brooks Powers Institute; a DEI session on addressing microaggressions, and an informative presentation on HearMeWA, a new state mental health support resource. BSS staff utilized breaks and informal sessions to better connect with one another, and as a result, the State Association is launching a peer-learning program, with funding available for these practitioners to visit one another and observe each other’s programming and outreach.

BGCWA’s Executive Director, Katya Miltimore, was honored with the Prevention Professional of the Year award by WA State Healthcare Authority on October 30th at the annual Prevention Summit.

The award celebrates multifaceted work by our local Clubs in youth mental health promotion, drug and alcohol abuse prevention and overall health and wellbeing-focused programming taking place in the dozens of Clubs with support from government contracts and private philanthropy. This award shines a spotlight on the importance of prevention work supported by out-of-school organizations, and how critical it is in the continuum of care for our young people.

The 2024 Keystone Summit took place on Saturday, October 19th.

Nearly 150 teens from around Washington converged in Seattle for sessions on outreach, advocacy, leadership, and other dynamic teen topics. Featuring several keynote speakers, this year’s summit also highlighted a college fair and 16 workshops.

The summit opened with a warm welcome from Miss Washington, Hermona Girmay. Parfait Bassale, a DEI professional who has experience working with both adults and youth, gave the keynote address using a mix of narrative and original music.

Workshops focused on an array of topics such as college and career readiness, AI skill development, financial literacy, advocacy, leadership, Keystone Club support, VR college tours and other topics selected by teens and their advisors. A workshop favorite was a lively session by closing keynote speaker, Gregory Marks focusing on “The Purpose Behind Your Passion.” Teens also had a unique opportunity to use their voice to advocate for youth mental and behavioral health support strategies via a facilitated discussion with Washington Thrives and Full Frame Initiative, organizations working with Washington state legislative leaders to redefine the mental and behavioral health system for youth pre-natal to 25 years old.

Several Club teens were not only summit participants but also workshop facilitators. Four Keystone Clubs from Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula and King County led workshops for their peers. Youth also had the opportunity for fun downtime with each other by playing basketball and VR games, using the photobooth, and overall hanging out. Each attendant enjoyed a lunch of pizza and were given t-shirts with a unique Keystone Summit logo.

It was an exciting time for Washington Clubs at Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s 2024 Leadership Conference in Phoenix in September!

Several of our organizations won awards for outstanding service. Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton and Franklin Counties was recognized for their teen programs–they received the Honor Award for Program Quality for Teen Engagement. Meanwhile, Kim Pope, CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of the Columbia Basin, took home the Executive of the Year award. Boys & Girls Clubs of Skagit Counties was awarded for Government Relations and Board Service. Norma Turner, who recently became Board President of Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula, won the Bronze EAGLE award. The award acknowledged Norma’s dedication to the mission, working committees, regularly attending meetings, participating in fundraising, and financially investing in youth. The Board of Directors of Boys & Girls Clubs of Thurston County received the Silver EAGLE award for their dedication to youth. We’re so proud of all the hardworking staff at all our organizations across Washington State!