Washington State Partnership
With support from the Ballmer Group, Foster America proudly entered a formal partnership with the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) in 2024 to help reimagine how the state supports children and families. With a shared commitment to proactive, prevention-focused solutions, we launched a months-long discovery process, engaging with key collaborators across government, community organizations, and those with personal experience in the system.
Washington is committed to creating a child and family well-being system that connects families to support early — before challenges escalate. This work prioritizes timely access to services, stigma-free support, and expanded opportunities for families to stay safely together without formal child welfare involvement. The insights gathered during our discovery process will guide our continued partnership in Washington, focused on advancing Washington’s vision for a stronger, more responsive system that is grounded in real experiences, co-designed with those most impacted, and aligned between the many collaborators who together are working to advance well-being.
Cross-Sector Collaboration DOCTORAL RESIDENT PARTNERS WITH FOSTER AMERICA Brendan Chan, a student in the Doctor of Education Leadership program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, joined us for his Doctoral Residency in 2024. This 10-month full-time learning experience allows doctoral candidates to immerse themselves in organizations and grow as systems-level leaders while completing strategic projects. Bringing experience as a classroom teacher and a decade-long career at Google, Brendan found great alignment with Foster America, given our focus on child welfare transformation and the current stage of our growth and development as an organization. Over the course of the year, Brendan expanded Foster America’s reach, connecting with organizations and leaders in sectors adjacent to child welfare. Brendan worked alongside the executive team to plan a series of events bringing together leaders from fields including education, technology, philanthropy, health care, and more.
Brendan Chan
www.foster-america.org |
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