Leadership Launch

💚 IMPORTANT UPDATE:
2025 brought big changes to Leadership Launch. We celebrated as all four of our seniors graduated and headed to university. But with decreased enrollment and unprecedented fundraising challenges, our Board made the difficult decision to suspend operations.

Closing our doors was heartbreaking, but our priority has been ensuring our current students' needs are met and celebrating the incredible COMMUNITY we built together over the past decade.

To our founders— Rachel and Dan Kittle, every donor and sponsor, our board members, staff, volunteers, and most importantly our ALUMNI—YOU made Leadership Launch more than an organization. YOU made it chosen family. We are SO proud and grateful.

For those wanting to continue supporting young people furthest from opportunity, we've compiled organizations doing similar work: https://www.leadershiplaunch.org/partners

And if you can't give financially right now? Invest your time in a young person. Having a trusted adult and mentor is one of the greatest gifts you can give.

Thank you for everything. 💚

🎓 Graduate Spotlight 🎓
Celebrating Josie Willis, a recent graduate who’s off to Washington State University this fall! ❤️🐾

Josie is a sweet, compassionate leader who brings warmth and care to every space she’s in. She leads by lifting others up, listening deeply, and showing up with a heart full of kindness.

Her quiet strength and genuine spirit have made such a difference, and we know she’ll continue to lead with empathy and purpose at WSU.

We’re cheering you on, Josie — go Cougs!

🎓 Graduate Spotlight 🎓
Celebrating Brooklyn Batingan, a recent graduate heading to Gonzaga University this fall! 💙🐾

Brooklyn is a thoughtful leader who isn’t afraid to ask questions and approach leadership with curiosity and care. Her big heart, steady presence, and willingness to learn have left a lasting impact on everyone around her.

She leads with compassion and strength — and we know she’ll carry that with her into this next chapter at Gonzaga. We’re so proud of you, Brooklyn!

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🎓 Graduate Spotlight 🎓

Celebrating Alexa Marcelo — a recent high school graduate who’s headed to Western Washington University to major in Special Education! 💜📚

Alexa is a leader with a heart for inclusion, a voice for those who need one, and a passion for creating change. Her compassion, strength, and drive have already made an impact — and this is only the beginning!

Whether in the classroom or the community, Alexa is ready to take on anything that comes her way. WWU is lucky to have her, and the future is brighter because of her! 💪✨

💜 CONGRATULATIONS KAMIAK SENIORS💜
We are so proud of you! What a great night of celebrating our Leadership Launch students, friends, and sibs. gave an inspiring speech that spoke to her values and character. 🫶

Quick photo summary of our Launch Project! Thank you to our students, board members, families, friends, guests (new friends!), and an amazing lineup of speakers. Our goal was to offer a protected space to explore and break down biases together— and being able to learn and grow as a community was really something special! 🏳️‍🌈🫶🏽🏳️‍⚧️🤎🥰

📣 Just 3 days away!
Join us this Saturday, June 7 | 1–4 PM at the Cascade Boys & Girls Club for Breaking Bias: Real Stories. Real Change. 💥

✨ Meet our keynotes! ✨

We’re thrilled to welcome our first speaker, Kevin Daniels — co-founder of Everett Pride 🌈 Kevin has been a powerful voice for LGBTQ+ advocacy in Snohomish County, helping build Everett Pride into a joyful, inclusive celebration now going into its third year.

He’ll be joined by the amazing Everett Pride team — bold, brilliant changemakers working to uplift community through visibility, storytelling, and action. 💖

Expect inspiring stories, interactive workshops and real conversations that spark change.

📍 7600 Cascade Dr, Everett, WA
🗓️ Saturday, June 7 | ⏰ 1–4 PM

Let’s break bias — together.

Leadership Launch was happy to host three of this year’s top Emerging Leaders of Snohomish County—Samantha Love , Melinda Cervantes , and Natalie Given ! They joined us for some inspiring conversation and a delicious dinner, compliments of Ray’s Rice and Noodle Bar in Greenwood .rice.noodle

It was the perfect way to wrap up our regular meeting schedule and get ready for next weekend’s Launch Project— come visit us and and our friends (including these Emerging Leaders) at the Cascade Boys and Girls Club (7600 Cascade Dr, Everett, WA 98203) on June 7 from 1-4pm!! 🫶

Shoutout to for making these beautiful screen printed T-shirts for our upcoming event! We spent half of our meeting making them into tie-dyed masterpieces! We can’t wait to show you how they turn out! Come see us on June 7th at the Cascade Boys and Girls Club for our community event, “Breaking Bias!”

SAVE THE DATE! 📆 Leadership Launch will be hosting an afternoon of community conversation, learning, and growth on Saturday, June 7th at the Cascade Boys and Girls Club in Everett. More details coming soon, but we hope to see you there!!

Say cheese! Nothing builds community and lifts your spirits quite like melty, gooey grilled cheese 🧀. Even better— make it a grilled cheese bar with of breads and spreads and toppings and cheese, of course! Thank you to and board member for serving up some amazing sammies at tonight’s meeting!

Leadership Launch was proud to help make this little corner of the Earth 🌎 a little cleaner today! Thanks for inviting us to help with today’s Community Cleanup! 💚