About Boundless Washington

A program of the Washington State Leadership Board

The Washington State Leadership Board is a trustee agency of Washington state originally founded in 1971 as the Association of Washington Generals, by then-Lt. Governor John Cherberg. The organization was codified in state statute in 2005, giving it permission to use the Washington State Seal and to work with the Office of the Lt. Governor on programs and initiatives. In 2022, the Washington State Legislature designated the Washington State Leadership Board a trustee agency of the state of Washington with the signing of Bill 5750.

The Board’s central mission is to cultivate and recognize leadership in Washington state. Given Boundless Washington’s emphasis on leadership development, the Washington State Leadership Board has endorsed the Boundless Washington program and serves as its host organization.

History

In 2017, former Lt. Governor Habib heard Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind person to climb Mt. Everest and co-founder of the No Barriers non-profit organization, speak at an event about the merits of physically pushing oneself beyond one’s comfort zone. That talk planted the seed for an outdoor leadership program for people with disabilities in the former Lt. Governor’s mind, which became Boundless Washington.

One year later, after receiving training from Erik Weihenmayer, former Lt. Governor Habib and several members of the Leadership Board were at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro with the intent to raise seed money for the program. The team summited the mountain, successfully raising the seed funding needed to start the program.

Partnerships

To deliver the program, the Washington State Leadership Board and the Lt. Governor’s office partnered with two prominent non-profit organizations focused on leadership development and the accessible outdoors: No Barriers and Outdoors For All. No Barriers helped develop the program’s leadership curriculum while Outdoors For All delivered the program’s first outdoor excursions.

New Legislation

Throughout 2018 and 2019, the Lt. Governor’s office supported important legislative changes to create long-term funding sources for the program. During the 2018 and 2019 legislative sessions, Lt. Governor Habib’s office advocated for legislation to help support the development of leadership opportunities for students with disabilities. With the successful passage of SB 5746 and HB 2062, sponsored by Sen. Patty Kuderer and Rep. Vandana Slatter respectively, the Leadership Board was charged with “Expand[ing] educational, sports, leadership, and/or employment opportunities for youth, veterans, and people with disabilities in Washington state,” specifically naming the Boundless Washington program. The legislation also provided the program with partial ongoing funding from the sale of Seattle Storm and Seattle Mariners specialty license plates.

In 2020, a bill sponsored by Sen. Marko Liias in the Senate and Rep. Brian Sullivan in the House passed to create additional funding from Seattle Kraken specialty license plates.

In 2022, the Washington State Legislature designated the Washington State Leadership Board a trustee agency of the state of Washington with the signing of Bill 5750.

Today, the Leadership Board continues its long legacy of recognizing service and cultivating leadership in Washington through educational programs, public service, international engagement, and bestowing statewide honors including Washingtonian of the Year.

Thank you to our supporters!

By state statute, Boundless Washington receives funding from specialty license plate sales from the Seattle Storm and the Seattle Kraken. In 2020, the Seattle Storm testified before the State Legislature to create the Seattle Storm specialty license plate, emphasizing the importance of supporting leadership programs for young people with disabilities.

If you’d like a specialty license plate of your own, please consider purchasing one from the Washington State Department of Licensing. Your contribution will help us reach young people all over the state, giving them access to a world-class outdoor leadership program.

Boundless Washington is a program administered by the Washington State Leadership Board. If you are interested in learning more about the programs administered by the Washington State Leadership Board, click here.

Washington State Leadership Board Programmatic Supporters