Board Chair, Lily Clifton, was first introduced to LCYC in 2014. She officially joined the LCYC board in May of 2017.
How did you get involved with LCYC?
After attending Boston College in Boston, MA I moved back to Seattle and was looking for ways to re-integrate into Seattle’s non-profit and local government communities. I ended up doing AmeriCorps VISTA, where I coordinated civil legal needs for homeless youth and young adults. The position was created to help Street Youth Law (SYLAW), a small nonprofit organization, to determine their path forward. I met with legal aid organizations and brought stakeholders together who serve youth experiencing homelessness, and that’s how I connected with Erin Lovell in 2014. Eventually, SYLAW became a program of LCYC. One of the stipulations for this merger was that someone from SYLAW would serve on LCYC’s board, so I joined in May 2017.
How have your experiences helped you to contribute to LCYC’s mission?
Before working for King County, I worked for a nonprofit organization called The Washington Bus, which does electoral organizing, community engagement, and voter education work. Ensuring that marginalized and underrepresented youth had access to voting and understood their voting rights definitely overlapped at times with my work with LCYC.
My programmatic viewpoint working for another nonprofit helped me to understand the different ways that organizations are structured and operate. But nonprofits also share a lot of the same challenges – messaging, fundraising, board engagement. At the time I joined the board, I was one of two board members who was not an attorney and also brought a younger perspective to the board. My experiences helped to diversify the board demographics. I was able offer a different lens to the work.
What inspires you most about LCYC?
The passion that the staff have for the work. The staff are 1000% into the work, and even if it’s challenging, they can see what is on the other side and stay engaged. In particular, Chach’s enthusiasm for what she is doing directly with youth is inspiring, but also her recognition of the need to change systems so that we can eventually stop what we are doing.
LCYC staff make such an impact on their clients – it is very tangible, and you can see it. I know that this team is possibly changing and impacting the lives of their clients – and I think it’s really cool!
What would you say to someone who is interested in volunteering with LCYC?
If you want to have an impact, if you want to see firsthand how an organization and board operates, if you want to understand more of the innerworkings of an organization, LCYC is a great place to do that.
If you want to have hope for the world for future generations to not experience as much harm and trauma, this is an organization that does that. They directly help youth and families to get back to where they need to be able to thrive in this world.
Volunteering with LCYC is not a point-in-time commitment – it is a place where your skills and expertise can contribute to change, growth, and transformation.
What do you hope to see for the future of LCYC?
I hope to see LCYC continue to grow and transform the legal system for young people. I also hope at some point the level of direct service isn’t needed to address crises, and that we can pivot our focus to systemic change work.