Young people from every corner of King County came together at the Museum of Flight on a sunny Saturday in May to build a shared vision of youth leadership in our region.
More than 200 young people and representatives from community participated in peer-to-peer learning, breakout session, and brainstormed building a youth commission.
At the Summit young people heard from the new King County Executive Girmay Zahilay. He spoke about the need for robust services and opportunities for young people and highlighted his new YouthWorks webpage.
Jess Warner, Chief of Staff for the Washington Youth Alliance, served as the Youth Keynote Speaker.
“Don’t ever lose sight of how valuable your perspective and your strengths are,” Warner said. “There is a common misconception among some policymakers or leaders that youth haven’t lived long enough to make informed decisions or they don’t know what’s best for themselves. But what those leaders often fail to understand is that lived experience is expertise. You don’t need decades to know what your community is missing, what your schools need, or what it feels like to navigate a world that wasn’t designed with you in mind. That knowledge is powerful and when it is brought into the rooms where decisions are made, it changes outcomes.”
The Good Foot Arts Collective presented the afternoon keynote address in a spoken word performance that highlighted the unique challenges young people are facing currently in our region.
Young people provided input on the development of a youth commission, a leadership body recommended in the King County Youth Bill of Rights, which would serve as an advisory body to the County Executive, Council and on issues impacting young people in the County.
They also had a chance to participate in breakout sessions that covered a range of topics like health, equity, storytelling, and community building.
