Standing Up The Washington Thriving Leadership Council: Lived Experience Seat Selection Process
The Washington Thriving Leadership Council is being established. Part of that process includes filling two lived experience seats — one youth/young adult and one parent/caregiver — through a nomination and selection process built around transparency and equity: organizations or networks nominate candidates, a five-person panel reviews and scores them, and the panel's recommended appointees go to the Governor's Office for final approval.
About the Council. The Governor's Office is setting up the Washington Thriving Leadership Council, a statewide group that will make key decisions as the implementation of Washington Thriving gets underway. The Council's job is to help build the state-level systems needed to support young people and those who care for them, in line with the Washington Thriving Strategic Plan.
The Council will include state agency leaders, legislative and Tribal government representatives, and — importantly — two seats held by people with lived experience: a youth or young adult, and a parent or caregiver, each of whom has personally navigated Washington's behavioral health system.
Once everyone is appointed, the Council's first task will be to agree on its charter: a founding document that will spell out the Council's purpose and how it will operate. From there, the Council will begin the heart of its work, starting with building the shared governance, goals, and funding needed to support the System of Care infrastructure that Washington Thriving envisions.
How appointments are being made. The seats on the council are being appointed based on the various governing and advisory bodies that represent them. State agency seats are appointed directly by the Governor's Office. Tribal government seats are appointed through the Governor's Indian Health Advisory Council (GIHAC), as outlined in legislation. The Children and Youth Behavioral Health Work Group (CYBHWG), which will advise the Leadership Council, has nominated its own representative. The Washington State Legislature will nominate its legislative participant. Lived experience seat appointments will follow the process outlined below.
Detailed Exploration of the Lived Experience Seat Nomination and Selection
The two lived experience seats work differently than the others: the nominations for these are coming through organizations or networks that will support nominees and ensure a wide range of voices are represented.
Nominations are due September 15, 2026.
How we're selecting who fills these seats. Washington Thriving is committed to being transparent in sharing about this process publicly before review of these nominations begins. The nomination criteria includes breadth of community connection, lived experience fit, and excitement/interest in the seat; as well as backing from a committed nominating organization or network who can support the candidate to show up equitably with other seats at the table.
The appointment process:
Screening. Once nominations close, a designated screener will check each nomination to ensure it is complete and meets the seat's required qualifications. Anything incomplete will be discussed with the nominating organization, not automatically screened out.
Panel review. Complete nominations will then go to a five-person review panel, made up of individuals who supported the development of the Strategic Plan and understand its aims and guiding principles. This includes a small group of core staff and partners tasked with bridging planning and implementation, and lived experience members from the former Washington Thriving Advisory Group who helped shape the plan and understand what matters most for these seats. Core staff and partner panelists have been chosen at random, while panelists from the Advisory Group will be chosen randomly from a subset of those who expressed interest in participating in the panel. Lived experience participants will receive stipends for their time.
Scoring. Each panelist will independently review and score nominations across four areas: 1) lived experience fit and recency, 2) motivation to engage with Washington's systems, 3) breadth of community connection, and 4) the strength of the nominating organization's support plan.
Discussion and consensus. Scoring is then used to structure discussion about each nominee. Panelists will come together to consider nominations and reach consensus on a recommended member and alternate for each seat. If consensus is not possible based on these criteria alone, panelists will be asked to consider equity factors: geographic spread across Washington, connection to communities or experiences not yet represented on the Council, and whether a nominee brings a perspective currently missing from the table. These factors will not be used to screen anyone out, only to ensure the Council considers the full diversity of the communities it will serve.
Final selection and appointment. Following the panel's recommendation, those selected will be submitted to the Governor's Office for appointment to the Leadership Council. After decisions are made, the Washington Thriving team will share a public summary of the selection (without disclosing applicant scores or other sensitive information).
We know this process won't be perfect right out of the gate, and we expect it to improve over time as we learn from nominees, nominating organizations, and others involved in the effort. We commit to continuous learning and improvement, centering the voices of the young people and families this work is meant to serve. If you have questions or comments, you can reach out to info@washingtonthriving.org.
(For more information on the recruitment process and supports for lived experience seats to ensure equitable participation, see the recruitment process materials and FAQs.)
We’d like to thank everyone who is taking part in this process — as a nominating organization, a nominee, or a panelist.