Posted on May 22, 2025 by kingcountyemployees

Kerry Wade receives Best-Run Government Leadership Excellence Award

For her commitment to enriching the lives of young people in King County and shaping programs and policies focused on children, Kerry Wade, Best Starts for Kids Community Partnership Manager, has been honored with the Best-Run Government Leadership Excellence Award – Individual Contributor. Her leadership helps ensure all children grow up happy, healthy, and thriving in their communities.

The Best-Run Government Leadership Excellence Awards recognize individuals who have made significant and tangible leadership contributions to developing Executive branch values in others, improving workplace culture, and leading organizational change while inspiring others to lead change as well. The Leadership Excellence Award for Individual Contributors honors someone who is not a manager of staff but has demonstrated leadership qualities.

“Kerry embodies our values and demonstrates Best-Run Government behaviors in her work, said Sheila Ater Capestany, Division Director, Children, Youth, and Young Adults Division. “As Best Starts for Kids Community Partnerships Manager, Kerry works closely with county team members from divisions in both the Department of Community and Human Services (DCHS) and Public Health – Seattle & King County (PHSKC), taking a “One team” approach to support outreach, engagement and community relations for all Best Starts strategies.”

She modeled “We solve problems,” “We lead the way,” “We respect all people,” and “We are racially just” values when managing the Youth Bill of Rights project (YBOR). As the project lead, Kerry embraced data collection through surveys, asking youth to identify issues having the greatest impact on their lives. In total, more than 2,000 youth submitted more than 4,100 comments during the input phase of the project.

The King County Youth Bill of Rights brings the county to the forefront, with several other jurisdictions across the nation, to advance organizational priorities focused and informed by insights of youth. It brings awareness to the most important issues confronting King County’s children and youth.

Kerry ensured the voices of young people — especially those most directly impacted — were at the center of the project and policy decisions. The YBOR project team pursued comprehensive geographic representation to reach youth in as many municipalities and zip codes as possible. As a result, participation includes representation from 73 King County zip codes, all nine council districts, all public- school districts, 36 of 39 King County municipalities, and all unincorporated King County services areas.

One of Kerry’s main responsibilities is to staff and serve the Children and Youth Advisory Board (CYAB), an executive-appointed and King County Council-confirmed board of up to 40 individuals who live in the county. Board members share a common goal to ensure every baby born and child raised in King County can reach adulthood happy, safe, and thriving.

In addition to having an impact on youth in the community, Kerry champions Equity and Racial and Social Justice (ERSJ) efforts in the DCHS Children, Youth and Young Adult Division. She was a foundational contributor to the creation of the Sista Let’s Talk subgroup of her department’s ERSJ work group.

Under Kerry’s leadership, the subgroup conducted listening sessions and surveys to gather data on the experiences of Black/African women in DCHS. These findings led to 10 recommendations to address issues that were reported.

“Kerry’s efforts contribute to creating an environment and workplace culture in DCHS where Black/African American women can thrive, grow, and develop professionally while being their authentic selves, said Maria Guizar, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Manager for the department.

Other factors that contributed to Kerry winning this award include: