Programs and results
What we aim to solve
There is often an income disparity among students in public schools. Those who are experiencing poverty, unstable housing, and/or homelessness are not able to do as well in school as their income-stable peers. Students who do not have access to proper clothing, adaptive clothing, and clothing that matches their gender are also subject to bullying and a decrease in school performance. We can help.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
WEA Children's Fund
Times are hard for many families, and the past three years have made things even harder. Many students go to school every day without clean, well-fitting clothing, proper shoes, and school supplies to participate in class. Those without stable housing may not have bedding to sleep on at night. Our educators see these issues every day and want to help support our kids so they can put their best foot forward.
The WEA Children's Fund was started in 1990 with $30,000, but now requires close to $100,000 per year to meet the demand of our children. During the 2021-2022 school year, over 1,200 students were supported by educators via the Fund. It is because of generous donations that this program works. No child should go without the basics.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
Washington Education Association 1990
External reviews

Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Total dollars received in contributions
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Year reflects end of school year totals. Example, 2022 is for the 2021-2022 school year.
Number of students assisted by the program
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Children, Preteens, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
WEA Children's Fund
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Year reflects end of school year totals. Example, 2022 is for the 2021-2022 school year. 2020-2021 was lower due to many students starting the school year virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our goal is to modestly help these students by providing clothing, shoes, school supplies, and bedding to those students in need.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We reimburse public school educators up to $100/student (limit of 5 students per year) when they purchase items like clothing, shoes, and school supplies for students in their districts.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Our ability to meet our goals is determined by our donations. For the 2021-2022 school year, we assisted 1, 229 students in grades K-12 through our program.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Over the past three years, we have:
- expanded our operating dates to September - June (previously September - January)
- increased our reimbursement amount from $75 to $100.
- added blankets and pillows to the list of items we cover.
- covered items to assist transgender students.
- assisted in purchasing adaptive clothing and supplies for disabled students.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
Public school educators: teachers, paraeducators, office staff, school counselors, etc.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
Educators let us know that, due to the high amount of unstable housing/homeless students in some of their classrooms, they would like blankets and bedding to be covered. We officially added that to our list of covered items in 2021 along with increasing our reimbursement amount from $75 to $100 dollars. We also added coverage for PPE (masks, shields, sanitizer) in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, as not all schools had enough masks for every student.
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
WEA CHILDREN'S FUND
Board of directorsas of 01/20/2023
Janie White
Washington Education Association
Term: 2024 - 2018
Yelonda Wilke
Washington Education Association
Term: 2022 - 2024
Barb Cruz
Washington Education Association
Mary Lindsey
WEA Retired
Jan Olmstead
Washington Education Association
Cookie Grant-Suggs
Lake Washington Education Association
Kirstin Nicholson
Central Kitsap Education Association
Martha Patterson
Central Kitsap Education Association
Marilyn O'Malley-Hicks
Tacoma Education Association
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/20/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.