JustLead Washington is pleased to announce our 2018 Leadership Academy Fellows, who join the Leadership Academy in its 5th anniversary year. The 30 new Fellows join a growing network of 114 community leaders committed to advancing equity and justice in Washington State.

The Leadership Academy, formerly known as the Washington State Equal Justice Community Leadership Academy, brings together legal and community advocates from across the state for an intensive, nine-month learning experience designed to foster adaptive, servant leadership skills and cross-organizational collaboration. This year’s Fellows include attorneys, managers, and legal advocates working within the civil, criminal, and juvenile justice systems as well as leaders from community-based organizations across the state. “We are honored to support such talented leaders and to offer the Leadership Academy to encourage individual, organizational, and systemic transformation,” notes JustLead Executive Director Jennifer Werdell. “It has never been more imperative for legal and community partners to work alongside one another in strategic, creative, and collaborative ways to help eradicate poverty and oppression.”

2018 Leadership Academy Fellows include:

Mubarak Abdur Raheem, Spokane City Prosecutor’s Office
Maren Anderson, Skagit Volunteer Lawyer Program
Elbert Aull, Snohomish County Public Defender Association
Dana Barnett, Washington State Bar Association
Michaela Brown, Excelerate Success Partnership & Spokane County United Way
Janet Chung, Columbia Legal Services
Kristi Cruz, Northwest Justice Project
D’Adre Cunningham, Washington Defender Association
Richard P. Devenport, TeamChild
Nikki D’Onofrio, LAW Advocates (Whatcom)
Sarah Glorian, Northwest Justice Project (Aberdeen)
Jennifer Greenlee, Washington State Civil Legal Aid Oversight Committee
Kristin M. Hanna, Attorney at Law
Harry F. Higgins, Housing Justice Project/Kent, King County Bar Association Pro Bono Services
Nicole Jenkins-Rosenkrantz, Spokane County Juvenile Court
Bonnie Linville, TeamChild
Michelle Lucas, Sexual Violence Legal Services – YWCA
Sarah MacDonald, Legal Voice
Cecilia A. Martinez-Vasquez, City of Bellevue
Chiedza Morrison, Washington State Attorney General’s Office
Nicholas Oakley, Center for Children & Youth Justice
Jolene Parmely, Kitsap Legal Services
Sara Robbins, Solid Ground
Kurtis Robinson, Spokane NAACP #1137
Blanca Rodriguez, Northwest Justice Project (Yakima)
Noah C. Samuels, Northwest Consumer Law Center
Breanne Schuster, ACLU of Washington Foundation
Magaly Solis, La Casa Hogar
Mary Welch, Northwest Justice Project (Bellingham)
Lindsey Wilson, Unloop

JustLead Washington formed in 2017 to provide leadership and equity-related training and support to advocates and organizations whose work intersects with the law and justice systems in Washington State. Its signature Leadership Academy program was initially developed in 2013 as an initiative of the Washington State Access to Justice Board and is offered on an annual basis thanks to the support of a team of nonprofit, state, and individual funders.

Leadership Academy Fellows participate in four in-person retreats in Seattle as well as online coursework throughout the year. The Academy’s core curriculum is drawn from the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law and grounded in the experience, practice, and values of Washington’s equity and justice community.

Profiles of the 2018 Leadership Academy Fellows will be available online by mid-March. For more information, please contact Jennifer Werdell, JustLead Washington Executive Director, jenniferw@justleadwa.org, or visit www.justleadwa.org.