2026 Washington State Prevention Awards of Excellence
Congratulations to this year's awardees, honored for their dedication and contributions to prevention.
Orlando Tlatelpa-Tapia is a dedicated youth prevention leader whose growth from club participant to president reflects a deep commitment to helping other young people. He supports substance use, suicide, and violence prevention and mental health promotion by leading campaigns, volunteering at community events, engaging younger students, and connecting peers with trusted adults and school support. Orlando pays particular attention to students who may feel alone, overlooked, or unsure where to seek help. By listening patiently, sharing his own experiences, and welcoming students into the prevention club, he helps create a safe sense of belonging without judgment.
Orlando’s passion extends beyond school. He brings youth perspectives to school board meetings, local radio conversations, community coalitions, and meetings with public officials, including advocacy related to mental health and prevention funding. He also builds relationships with families, businesses, and community partners to strengthen youth activities and prevention campaigns. His consistent willingness to show up, encourage others, and use his voice on behalf of young people demonstrates compassion, courage, and a sincere desire to make his community healthier and more supportive.
Kristi Tenney has devoted more than a decade to strengthening community-based prevention in Washington. She helped lead the Clarkston EPIC Coalition and later supported the development and growth of the Kennewick Key Connection Coalition, expanding substance use prevention and mental health promotion through grants, school partnerships, and regional collaboration. Known for looking beyond risk factors to emphasize hope and protective factors, Kristi has supported students and families across a diverse school district and has worked to ensure prevention efforts reflect community needs.
Kristi’s passion for prevention is also evident in her commitment to training and mentoring others. As a longtime SAPST trainer and trusted colleague, she has encouraged emerging prevention professionals, helped strengthen their skills, and maintained supportive relationships throughout their careers. Even when programs began with limited funding or required her to build new partnerships from the ground up, Kristi remained persistent and solutions-focused. Her compassionate, hope-centered approach and willingness to connect coalitions across Benton and Franklin counties have created a lasting foundation for prevention and inspired others to continue the work.
Stephanie Morgareidge has advanced prevention in Concrete and across rural Washington through thoughtful coalition leadership, mentorship, and regional collaboration. As coordinator of the Concrete Resource Coalition, she has adapted prevention efforts to meet the needs of rural youth, veterans, active-duty military families, and specific groups of young people who benefit from targeted opportunities. Stephanie helped organize statewide rural prevention conferences and has championed connection among prevention professionals through the North Sound Prevention Collaborative.
Stephanie’s passion and compassion are reflected in the quiet, consistent way she supports both communities and colleagues. She makes time to orient and mentor professionals who are new to the field, helping them feel connected and equipped to continue their work. Her partnerships with schools, law enforcement, economic development leaders, and youth-serving organizations have expanded resources and community participation. Through efforts such as Concrete Youth Activity Day, which brings together youth-serving organizations and families, Stephanie creates opportunities for young people to build relationships and access support. Her humble approach empowers others while strengthening rural prevention across the region.
Paulina Zyskowski has become a leading voice in problem gambling and gaming prevention through statewide education, training, outreach, and resource development. She led the creation of YouthHaveThePower.org and helped develop Empower-Inspire.org, providing practical prevention information for youth, young adults, families, educators, coaches, and behavioral health professionals. She also develops and delivers prevention trainings and curricula that help people understand addiction, strengthen protective factors, and respond to emerging gambling and gaming concerns.
Paulina’s passion for equitable prevention is evident in her commitment to communities that have historically had limited access to relevant information and services. She coordinated multilingual outreach materials, worked with translators and subject-matter experts, advocated for scholarships and free training opportunities, and served as a liaison to Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, and recovery advisory groups. Her compassionate, culturally responsive approach has supported partnerships with Tribal programs, including youth workshops and professional training. By working with the Washington State Health Care Authority, community partners, and prevention specialists, Paulina has helped integrate problem gambling prevention into broader behavioral health efforts and extend free, meaningful resources to communities across Washington.
Abigail Wells has spent 15 years advancing prevention and community wellness, including leading the statewide Prevent Coalition Rural Network through Educational Service District 112. She brings together rural parents, youth, schools, health professionals, law enforcement, faith communities, and coalition leaders to strengthen local prevention capacity and resilience. Abigail has expanded access by supporting translated resources, helping develop a dashboard focused on rural risk and protective factors, and providing peer-led technical assistance on grants, planning, policy, and sustainability.
At the center of Abigail’s work is a genuine commitment to rural communities that can be overlooked because of geography, limited resources, or suppressed local data. Her relationship-centered approach recognizes connection and belonging as essential protective factors. Through Rural Office Hours, individualized support, national training, and the first Virtual Rural Prevention Summit, she has created welcoming opportunities for local leaders to learn from one another and for rural youth voices to be heard. Abigail’s compassion is demonstrated through her responsiveness to community needs, while her passion is reflected in her continued efforts to make prevention tools, data, and professional support practical and accessible throughout Washington.
Caitlin Ramirez of the West Van for Youth Coalition has demonstrated collaborative leadership in expanding prevention services for youth and families. With six years of prevention experience, she brings together schools, community organizations, healthcare providers, law enforcement, parents, and other partners to strengthen protective factors and address local needs. Her work includes adapting the evidence-based Strengthening Families Program for virtual delivery in Spanish, supporting school-based youth prevention clubs, and promoting the Lock, Save Lives initiative.
Caitlin’s passion for prevention is reflected in her willingness to listen closely to families and develop practical solutions rather than allowing barriers to limit access. Her compassion for the communities she serves is evident in the care taken to create an environment where Spanish-speaking families could participate safely and feel supported. Caitlin also supports youth prevention clubs, medication and cannabis safe-storage education, and partnerships with schools, health agencies, families, and community organizations. By sharing resources and coordinating with a neighboring coalition, she has broadened the reach of prevention efforts and strengthened protective factors for youth and families.
MENTOR Washington strengthens youth prevention by helping mentoring organizations, coalitions, professionals, and volunteers use research-informed practices. For 25 years, the organization has provided training, coaching, quality assessment, and program-development support across Washington, with particular attention to rural communities and young people experiencing poverty, foster care, or other barriers to opportunity. Much of this assistance is available regardless of a program’s budget, helping local organizations create safe, consistent, and effective mentoring relationships.
The organization’s passion for youth well-being is reflected in its advocacy for hope-centered practice and its commitment to ensuring more young people have access to caring, well-prepared mentors. Its compassionate approach emphasizes trust, respect, and support for each program’s strengths and needs. MENTOR Washington works closely with state agencies, schools, nonprofits, prevention networks, and local providers, offering individualized coaching that encourages programs to ask for help and grow. Even after a significant loss of state funding, its small team maintained service levels and continued showing up for community partners, demonstrating resilience and a steadfast commitment to young people across the state.
Ghazaleh Shokouhaghaei has made wide-ranging early-career contributions to suicide prevention through research, peer support, program evaluation, training, advocacy, and community education. Through Now Matters Now, she has helped expand free national peer-support programming, strengthen services using participant feedback and program data, and develop accessible mental health learning resources. She has contributed to research and publications on suicidal crises and evidence-informed interventions while also offering free DBT skills workshops for teens and young adults.
Ghazaleh’s passion for suicide prevention is grounded in a belief that effective support should reflect both scientific evidence and lived experience. Her compassionate, trauma-informed approach emphasizes safety, empowerment, collaboration, and respect for people who may face financial, geographic, or stigma-related barriers to care. She translated prevention research into practical training for graduate counseling students, combining suicide prevention theory, coping strategies, and interactive practice to help future clinicians respond more effectively to distress. Across research, education, peer support, and advocacy, Ghazaleh consistently works to make prevention knowledge understandable, inclusive, and accessible to people who need it.
The Squaxin Island Youth Program at the Tu Ha’ Buts Youth Center provides year-round, culturally grounded early prevention for Squaxin children ages 5–12. Through after-school, school-break, and summer programming, the team builds protective factors by creating opportunities for skill development, positive relationships, leadership, emotional growth, recreation, and cultural connection. Staff carefully coordinate transportation, meals, safe staffing, field trips, and engaging experiences so children can participate, build confidence, and develop a strong sense of belonging before behavioral health concerns become crises.
The team’s passion is visible in the ambitious experiences created for children throughout the year, while its compassion is reflected in the consistent care, encouragement, and trusted relationships offered to each participant. Staff notice when a child is struggling, reinforce strengths, help children work through conflict, and encourage them to try difficult or unfamiliar activities with support. Partnerships with Tribal programs, cultural and language leaders, meal programs, recreation organizations, and local businesses create a broad circle of care around youth. By weaving culture, community, fun, and skill-building into everyday programming, the team makes prevention feel welcoming and meaningful to Squaxin children and families.
The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation North Star Initiative is building a culturally grounded, community-owned prevention system across Nespelem, Omak, Keller, and Inchelium. Four local coalitions bring together youth, families, elders, schools, Tribal programs, behavioral health partners, and community organizations to address substance use, suicide, violence, and mental wellness by strengthening the environments surrounding young people. North Star combines Colville cultural values, local leadership, community data, and partnerships to develop prevention approaches that reflect each community’s distinct needs and strengths.
North Star’s passion for prevention is rooted in the principle that communities should guide the solutions that affect them. Its compassion is demonstrated by being present not only for planned activities, but also during times of community celebration, grief, and challenge. Coalition members bring forward mentors, counselors, teachers, cultural knowledge, and caring relationships, helping youth and families feel supported and connected. By establishing local coalitions across a large rural reservation, North Star reduces transportation and access barriers while strengthening cultural identity, belonging, and community ownership. This commitment creates prevention that is developed within the community and sustained through trusted relationships across generations.
The 2026 Washington State Prevention Summit is Sponsored by:
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