By Annika Hauer, ELAP intern
The Washington Leadership Institute (WLI), a collaborative project between the Washington Bar Association and the UW School of Law, released a podcast this summer to celebrate 20 years of building the next generation of leaders.
The goal of the podcast series is to share with a wider audience the knowledge, solidarity, and empowerment that makes up WLI’s programs. WLI works to connect folks who are established in legal communities with up-and-coming attorneys and legal professionals. The program trains people whose backgrounds and identities are often underrepresented in the field to become leaders in their communities. Anyone on a law path can apply.
In the five podcast episodes, current WLI fellows interview past graduates. They talk about how the program created a supportive network for them to move through their careers with, and inspired them to become leaders themselves.
Sarah Pendleton, Clerk of the Washington Supreme Court and 2022 WLI graduate, was interviewed in the third episode. One of her mentors during the program was Washington Supreme Court Justice Mary I. Yu.
“Going through the program and creating these relationships with Justice Yu and with attorneys who practice in this court … did so much for me in giving me the confidence to be able to walk in a room and know that I deserve to be in this job,” Pendleton said.
Cloie Chapman, Housing Stability Senior Staff Attorney at ELAP and 2025 WLI fellow, helped conduct the podcast interviews.
Chapman didn’t grow up seeing herself in legal leaders around her, she said. When people of underrepresented races, socioeconomic statuses, sexual orientations, and other identities become leaders, she said, they better represent and reflect the demographics of their clients.
“The program teaches you that you belong, even if you are the only person of color in the room, and that it is important for you to contribute that perspective,” Chapman said.
“Voices that Move Us” is the project of 2025’s graduating cohort. See past year’s projects here.
The podcast is free to listen to on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Music. View the criteria to apply to be a WLI fellow here.
