This was originally posted on the Department of Community and Human Services Cultivating Connections blog.
After over a decade with King County Department of Community and Human Services, Sheila Ater Capestany will depart the Children, Youth and Young Adult Division for an exciting new chapter as Executive Director for Start Early Washington.
Ahead of her departure, King County leaders and community members came together to recognize Sheila’s visionary leadership that ushered in one of the largest publicly funded initiatives for babies, young people and families in the country, Best Starts for Kids, and created the Children, Youth, and Young Adult Division.
A six-year property tax levy approved by voters, Best Starts for Kids aims to ensure every baby born and child raised in King County has what they need to live happy, healthy, safe, and thriving. In the first levy, the program worked with 345 partners and reached 490,000 people. Since the beginning of the second levy in 2022, Best Starts for Kids has served 260,789 people. The funding will bring a total of over $1.3 billion in funding to the county to support a wide array of direct services, including increased access to child care through subsidies, policy and system change for communities.
“It is hard to put into words that how much Sheila has meant to this community,” said Michelle Sarju, a King County employee who worked with Sheila on Best Starts for Kids. “Sheila has been a fierce advocate for babies, kids and young people. She’s not just a program builder— she’s fundamentally changed how we invest in children.”
Sheila’s path to King County’s Best Starts for Kids
Throughout her decades long career, Sheila has been a strong advocate for the well-being of children, families and young people, always centering community voices and experiences.
Early on, Sheila worked in direct services, providing support to children and youth through mentoring and youth development programs and supporting young moms and their new families. Sheila has worked as a doula and a doula advocate for over 30 years, founding Open Arms Perinatal Services in 1997 to make these services available to all birthing families. During that time, she earned a Master of Social Work and a Master of Public Health.
Sheila’s first foray into public service was as a legislative aide for Seattle City Council where, among other things, she played an instrumental role in repealing the Teen Dance Ordinance, ensuring families, friends, and communities could experience the joy of music and dance together. As a non-profit leader and founder, she would advocate on a local and national level for policy changes to support doulas and community health workers, children and families. In 2014, Sheila was the featured speaker at the White House Summit on Early Education.
Sheila’s unique career trajectory would connect her to then-Councilmember Dow Constantine. Recognizing her expertise in early childhood development and community-driven approach, as executive, Dow appointed Sheila to develop Best Starts for Kids’ initial framework.
“Sheila and I have known each other a lot longer than she has been a King County employee,” former King County Executive Dow Constantine said. “She was the queen of the doulas–someone who advocated for women who were bringing new lives into this world. That was only the beginning of her advocacy. Her leadership and tenacity have given birth, if you will, to one of the most important initiatives, Best Starts for Kids.”
Transformational leadership, lasting impact
According to her colleagues, Sheila “puts the ‘Big L’ love into public policy,” leading with community for broader systemic change. Throughout her time with King County, she brought together thousands of community members, elected officials, partners, and experts to develop programs rooted in equity and anti-racism.
This community- and compassion-driven approach fundamentally shaped Best Starts for Kids. Under Sheila’s direction, the initiative began investing in the promotion of kids’ well-being not just in prevention and intervention after crises occurred. This reframe led the County and other children’s initiatives throughout the country to rethink investments in young people and families, centering a young person’s right to thrive, not just be free from harm.
In 2019, Sheila helped establish the Children, Youth, and Young Adult Division and became its first Division Director. In 2022, she transitioned from also being the Best Starts for Kids Co-Lead to solely focus on her role as a division director. During this time, Sheila oversaw the division’s creation with the goal of further aligning the County’s efforts to ensure that every baby born and child raised in King County reaches adulthood happy, healthy, safe, and thriving.
As a result, King County has expanded its work re-engaging young people in education and employment, while partnering with community organizations to deliver high quality, culturally responsive programs to young people throughout the region. Under Sheila’s leadership, the Children, Youth, and Young Adult Division also supported the adoption of the King County Youth Bill of Rights, and the process to update the King County Youth Action Plan in 2025.
Following Sheila’s departure, Jen Tanaka, Deputy Director of the Children, Youth, and Young Adult Division, will serve as Acting Director.
