Support young advocates for GiveBIG 2024!

Dear Friends:

As many of you know, I have been a foster parent for over 10 years and this year I have had the honor of joining the Board of Directors of The Mockingbird Society.

The Mockingbird Society is an advocacy organization dedicated to transforming the foster care system and ending youth homelessness. Mockingbird partners with youth and young adults with lived experience in foster care and homelessness to elevate their voices and advocate for change within the systems impacting them most. 

Over the years, Mockingbird has won 70+ major policy reforms in Washington state, changing the outcomes for over 200,000 children, youth, and families and prompting more than $252 million in state investment in services and support. 

Mockingbird focuses on positive youth development in support of advocacy—being visible and vocal—which has been identified as a “protective factor” for at-risk youth and young adults. Our community-building activities support our young advocates by bolstering their confidence in their abilities, values, and voice. The skill of self-advocacy is powerful in building youth's leadership and awareness that they can have a role in not only improving their individual circumstances, but also enacting societal change. 

For Mockingbird's GiveBIG 2024 campaign, I have set a goal to raise $1,000 to support Mockingbird's work. Support the advocacy efforts of young people by making a gift today!

Me and Avery at Youth Advocacy Day 2024

A gift to The Mockingbird Society demonstrates:

• Your commitment to our shared community and your investment in the welfare of youth and families in Washington state; 
• Your belief that communities with lived experience should be at the center of identifying just and equitable solutions to the issues impacting them most; and 
• Your desire to honor and uplift the wisdom, courage, innovation,  and hope of youth and young adults committed to serving as positive change-makers in our community and state.