Author: School's Out Washington

Hiring Announcement: Refugee School Impact Training & Resource Manager

Refugee School Impact Training & Resource Manager OVERVIEW For three decades, School’s Out Washington (SOWA) has served a critical role to advance equitable expanded learning ecosystems in Washington State. We work to ensure high-quality afterschool and summer programs are available so all of Washington’s youth—and especially low-income youth and youth of color—can have the opportunities they deserve to thrive. SOWA is dedicated to building responsive community systems to support quality afterschool, youth development, and summer programs for Washington’s children and youth ages 5 through young adulthood. POSITION SUMMARY SOWA administers the Refugee School Impact Program (RSIP), which is funded through … [ ]

Bridge Conference 2024 Highlights—Moments to Movements

We were proud to witness our theme of “Moments to Movements” in action as both a foundation for the conference and an invitation to imagine more expansive movements rooted in the moments that change us bit by bit every day—and how we can utilize these invaluable moments with youth to foster long-lasting positive change.

Meet 2024 Bridge Conference closing plenary speaker: Luis Ortega

Luis Ortega Luis (he/they) is a multidisciplinary storyteller, educator, facilitator, narrative strategist, and the founder and director at Storytellers for Change. Over the last 16 years, Luis has worked with youth, educators, and cross-sector leaders to harness the power of narrative to co-imagine, craft, and share stories to build an equitable world. His research and consulting work focuses on asset-based storytelling, racial equity, narrative change, healing, culturally responsive education, leadership, and organizational development. His work, writing, and projects have been featured at the Harvard DACA Seminar, HBO’s “Where Do You Exist?” podcast, the Kauffman Foundation’s Disruptor Speaker Series, the Seattle … [ ]

2023: A Year of Strategic Mobilization and Advocacy for Youth Development

As an intermediary in Washington, mobilizing, convening, and advocating to fund the youth development field were fundamental objectives in 2023. Upon hiring our strategy and partnerships director, Fahren Johnson, she restructured the Youth Development Strategy Table (YDST), and SOWA became the formal backbone for the coalition. Fahren also focused on uplifting the coalition voices. The YDST, a coalition of public, nonprofit, and community stakeholders, now had an organized leadership team. “We now have a co-chair model, and it really pulls from the depth of knowledge of the field,” said Fahren. “I think this will be strategic and key to keeping … [ ]

Best Starts Highlight: After-School All-Stars

One of the greatest challenges facing youth development nonprofits is access to sustainable and multiyear funding, especially for smaller, grassroots, and BIPOC-led programs. In partnership with King County Best Starts, SOWA works to address this issue by providing funding and quality- and capacity-building supports for expanded learning providers through the Best Starts For Kids Expanded Learning Initiative. This initiative invests in BIPOC-led organizations as well as Place-Based Collaboratives—made up of at least three organizations offering programming in school or housing communities. When After-School All-Stars (ASAS) Puget Sound opened in Washington in 2016, SOWA helped them understand the local youth development … [ ]

RSIP Spotlight: Bridging Cultural Gaps

Bridging Cultural Gaps’ Hidden Genius program, which has introduced traditionally marginalized students of color to the fast-growing field of technology since 2018, is about more than learning applicable skills like coding—it’s about belonging, connection, and possibility. Abdi Haro, program manager at Bridging Cultural Gaps, recognized the potential of offering this programming to Afghan refugee students in his community, but he simply didn’t have the capacity to do so effectively. That changed in 2023 when Abdi learned about a federal grant opportunity provided through Washington Department of Social and Health Services’ Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance, which was administered by … [ ]