Claire Wilson has represented the people of the 30th District since 2018. She is Chair of the Human Services Committee, and is proud to serve as vice chair of the Early Learning and K-12 Committee and co-chair of the LGBTQ+ Caucus and co-chair of the DCYF Oversight Board. She is a member of the Rules Committee, Ways and Means Committee, and holds the role of Assistant Majority Whip. In her time as Senator, Claire has been a strong proponent of reform in the juvenile justice, child welfare, and corrections systems. She is motivated to disrupt the institutions that keep people where they are instead of providing them the tools and resources they need for successful reentry. Claire continues to be an advocate for children and families, championing legislation that makes childcare and early learning more affordable, and making our K12 education system, as well as services for children and families, stronger and more accessible.
Before her time in the legislature, she spent 25 years serving as an administrator in early education and family involvement at the Puget Sound Educational Services District, taught pregnant and parenting teens in Tacoma, and was program director for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program in rural Montana. She also served for eight years as an elected school board director for Federal Way Public Schools.
Throughout her career, she has volunteered for and served on numerous organizations and boards, including the Washington State Leadership Board, Citizens for Federal Way Schools, the Washington Family Engagement Trust Advisory Board, the Sidekick Collective, the Mentor and Me Program and the South County Tool Library.
Claire identifies as a lesbian woman and mother and is one of seven LGBTQ lawmakers in the Washington State Legislature.
Currently, Claire also serves on the following task forces, work groups, and committees:
- Professional Educator Collaborative
- Child Care Collaborative Task Force
- Early Learning Advisory Council
- Task Force on Improving Institutional Education Programs and Outcomes (IIEPO Task Force)
- Washington State LGBTQ Commission
- Washington State Leadership Board
- Education Ombuds Appointment Committee
- Child Support Guidelines and Report Review Work Group
- Children and Youth Behavioral Health Task Force
- Reentry Services Work Group
- NCSL State Policy and Research in Early Education (SPREE) Workgroup
- Early Learning Strategic Plan Committee
- Sentencing Guidelines Commission
- Advisory Board for UW Center for Early Childhood Policy and Equity
- DCYF Oversight Board (Chair)
- Commission on Children in Foster Care
- Help Me Grow Advisory Committee
- NCSL Child Welfare Fellows Program
- CSG West Education Committee
- CSG West – Western Legislative Academy (WLA) Class of 2022
- Correctional Industries Advisory Committee
- Jt. Select Committee on Governance & Funding for Institutional Education
- Jt. Legislative and Executive Committee on Behavioral Health
- The UW Master of Arts in Applied Child and Adolescent Psychology: Prevention and Treatment Program Advisory Board.
- CSG Toll Fellow 2024
- NCSL Early Learning Fellow Alum