Request for Proposals to become one of the next Washington State Mental Health Summit initiatives

Proposal Expectations:

• Proposal submissions are due no later than June 1, 2026.

• Proposals must be non-commercial in nature.

• Proposals shall use a provided PowerPoint framework to build presentations within.

 

Presentation Expectations:

• Presenters must attend the event in-person.

• Initiatives shall provide Summit representative(s) to manage questions and feedback at a presenter table in the exhibit hall.

• Presentations will follow a prescribed flow of Problem Statement, Proposed Solutions, Solution Development, Vision and clear Call to Action.

• Selected proposals will be expected to attend preparation meetings via Zoom (two in the 60 days before the event) where presentations will receive feedback to maximize impact.

• Presentations shall be a maximum of 20 minutes, plus 10 minutes for Q & A.

• Initiatives shall submit their draft PowerPoint presentations by Monday, August 31, 2026 and their final PowerPoint presentations no later than Monday, September 28, 2026.

 

Post Summit Expectations:

• Initiatives will participate in two post-event progress meetings via Zoom, one at three months and one at six months. These meetings will serve as an opportunity to share progress and to identify and collaboratively address any barriers.

• Following the Summit, initiatives will provide brief qualitative responses on the impact of participation by responding to the following questions:

• Did you make meaningful connections or gain support through participating in the Summit? If so, please provide examples.

• Did you achieve what you hoped to through participating in the Summit? Why or why not?

• What impact did participating in the Summit have on your initiative?

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To aid you in planning, below is a listing of the questions to be answered on the proposal application:

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The Washington State Mental Health Summit Advisory Council is most interested in initiatives that are well thought out and actionable within 12 months following presentation.

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1. Title of Initiative

2. Brief description of innovation (500 words max)

3. How would participation in the Washington State Mental Health Summit expand the reach, impact, or development of your initiative?

4. What gaps, barriers, or underutilized opportunities currently exist within your initiative that a presentation at the Summit could help accelerate?

5. In order to build an effective behavioral health workforce, we need to think beyond the traditional medical professions, and engage a broader group of people. How does your initiative help build mental health and substance misuse care capacity?

6. What population(s) does your initiative address, and how will it address underserved populations?

7. Treating mental health and substance misuse conditions as early as possible is crucial on an individual level as well as on a population level. We want to move away from emergency care and towards preventative care. How does your initiative help move care upstream?

8. We are looking for new and scalable ideas that will make a sizable difference. In what new ways might your initiative have an impact within the current mental health and substance misuse spaces?

9. How do you foresee your initiative might aid in the scaling of an existing practice?

10. Describe any technology, data, or unique innovations used with your programming to address mental health issues that might be showcased during your presentation.

11. Key Stakeholders, Partners, Sponsors, and Initiative Champions Across Organizations and Leadership:

12. Are there specific stakeholders, partners, or sponsors you are looking to engage or secure support from in the future?

13. What supports, either monetary or technical, do you foresee might be helpful if available from the Summit?

14. The Washington State Mental Health Summit is considering the award of modest pilot grants to incoming initiatives that lack pre-existing monetary support. Please describe any organization affiliated with your initiative and how they currently support you.

 

The Summit Leadership will notify applicants of its decision on selected feature initiatives by June 30th, 2026. Announcement of selection will be made publicly in July when the event program is available.