Legislative Youth Council

Washington State Legislative Youth Advisory Council

West Valley High School student, Jazlin Betancourt, is a member of the Washington State Legislative Youth Advisory Council (LYAC), the official youth advisory body to the Washington State Legislature.

The Washington State Legislative Youth Advisory Council is a student-led organization that empowers young people (ages 14–18) to engage directly in policymaking, meet with legislators, and advocate for issues affecting youth across the state.

Recently, Jazlin commented on her experiences serving in the first year of her two-year term:

“Getting to work alongside other passionate youth and motivated people has been truly inspiring to me. They have constantly pushed me and have made it so easy to get all of our work done as it is a collaborative effort. Being a member of LYAC means having many opportunities to meet with our Senators and Representatives, lobbying for bills, creating bills to introduce, testifying before the legislature, and organizing events such as Action Day which brings youth from all over the state to our beautiful State Capitol in Olympia. I couldn’t recommend this council enough! If you would like an opportunity to advocate and support all 1.6 million youth state-wide this a wonderful opportunity to do so.”

The program is completely free. Applications for the 2025–2027 cohort are now open.

Students must be 14–18 years old as of August 31, 2025, and in Grades 7–10 at the time of application. Application deadline is: April 30, 2025.

Application will be accepted via this website: https://walyac.org/apply

Congratulations to Jazlin Betancourt for her leadership and civic engagement.