ANNOUNCEMENT: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DR. STEPHAN BLANFORD WILL BE LEAVING CHILDREN’S ALLIANCE THIS SUMMER
By Stephanie Thorpe, Board Chair
I’m writing with bittersweet news that our Executive Director, Dr. Stephan Blanford, will be leaving Children’s Alliance in the summer of 2025. Stephan has served as our Executive Director since June 2020—during the height of the COVID pandemic. He has been an outstanding leader, building a strong policy team and strengthening our financial condition to a level we’ve not seen before.
On behalf of the Board of Directors: Thank you, Stephan, for your commitment to racial equity and your passion to do what is best for all of Washington’s children. You have led important work and we are proud to have worked by your side. Thank you especially for your leadership on the campaign to save the capital gains tax—a key funding mechanism for early learning programs.
This transition brings an exciting opportunity for growth. The board, together with the staff and our strong network of community partners and child advocates, is excited for the next visionary leader who can build on this legacy. Be assured that our active board is already strategizing and planning to ensure that we maintain our momentum as we seek our new leadership. We are grateful that Stephan is planning to overlap with the new director, ensuring a smooth transition.
There are no words to express how grateful we are for the hard work, commitment, vision and leadership Stephan has provided over the past five years. He joined us at the height of the pandemic and managed us through that. He has worked to build our financial position to the strongest it has ever been. He has been a strong, statewide voice raising concern about our children’s behavioral health, working together with coalition partners to pass the Fair Start for Kids (FS4K) Act and protecting the capital gains tax—an essential funding source for the state’s largest ever investment in early learning through FS4K. As a result, the Children’s Alliance is recognized as a model organization, one that walks its talk.