On Tuesday, November 9, YDEKC members joined together in our annual member summit – for the first time virtually, to share celebrations, commiserations, and to get clearer on our collective policy agenda for the next few years that will support thriving leaders, thriving organizations, and thriving youth. Read a related blog post by Jessica here, reflecting on our sector’s version of the Mycelium Network that we need to rebuild coming out of the pandemic to keep our relationships strong and build trust.
At the summit, we talked about our refined our Governance Structure that seeks to ensure we are clearly and more transparently member-led and that there are accessible ways for our members to be progressively involved in leadership. We welcome our members who are not yet serving on a committee or in other leadership roles to share their interests by completing this interest form.
We also reviewed our Draft 2022 Policy Issues X Jurisdictions Grid (PDF). This grid gives you a preview of the issues that we are focused on at various levels of government. Our Advisory Board and Advocacy Committee have done an initial prioritization which is color-coded with a key. And we are currently collecting final responses to our member survey on Advocacy Priorities for 2022-2023. Our Policy and Advocacy Protocols (PDF) outlines why and how we work together on policy matters – especially related to increasing sustainable and durable funding – and lays out our Equity Screen questions.
Throughout the summit, members had a chance to drill into wage equity, staff shortages, and staff well-being. We also heard from YDEKC members who are leading or involved with coalitions and organizing efforts that are working in aligned efforts. So many shared challenges have been (are being) experienced by leaders in our sector, and we all need creative and new ways to explore our work to truly become a sector in which we all can thrive.
· Brave Commitments – Anthony Austin from SEYFS hosted this session about efforts underway for several years to elevate the importance and need to support the full cost of doing business as a nonprofit. Learn more here – https://bravecommitments.org/
· The Racial Equity Coalition and Love and Liberation program frameworks – Jaimée Marsh from FEEST shared about efforts seeded by the United Way of King County to support POC-led youth-serving organizations. Learn more here – https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LrqFJUUQt_aU_PvepMNZBFucI3Tg_fPi
· WACHYA – Jo Bechtold of Mockingbird Society shared about the Washington Coalition of Homeless Youth Advocacy. Learn more here – https://www.mockingbirdsociety.org/coalitions/wachya
· Youth Development Strategy Table – Rene Murry of YDEKC shared about the Youth Development Strategy Table and efforts underway to build a sustainable funding stream at the State Level.
· The Greater Seattle Business of Childcare group – Angela Griffin of Launch and Susan Brown of Kids Co shared efforts to solidify and support school-aged child care programs and the challenges this sector faces through the pandemic.
We are so grateful to our members for spending their morning with us and look forward to continuing to build trust and solidarity across our sector to ensure that leaders, organizations, and young people are thriving.