Paula Fillmore-Sardinas Appointed to Community Advisory Panel for Washington State’s Historic Reparations Study

President & CEO

Washington is one of the first states in the nation to study reparative action for descendants of U.S. chattel slavery

This study is about truth, repair, and the futures our communities deserve. Community lived experience will not be a footnote to this research — it will be its foundation.”

— Paula Fillmore-Sardinas

SEATTLE, WA, UNITED STATES, July 13, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Paula Fillmore-Sardinas Appointed to Community Advisory Panel for Washington State’s Historic Reparations Study
FMS Global Strategies President & CEO will help ground the Charles Mitchell and George Washington Bush Study on Reparative Action in community lived experience

FMS Global Strategies, LLC announced today that Paula Fillmore, President & CEO, has been selected to serve on the Community Advisory Panel of the Charles Mitchell and George Washington Bush Study on Reparative Action — a landmark study funded by the Washington State Legislature to research reparative actions for Washington State’s descendants of victims of United States chattel slavery.

The study — administered by the Washington State Department of Commerce in partnership with the Washington State Commission on African American Affairs and conducted by research firm Truclusion, LLC — makes Washington one of the first states in the nation to formally examine the enduring impacts of chattel slavery within its laws, policies, and economic structures, and to develop concrete, data-driven recommendations for reparative action.

As a critical partner in the research, the Community Advisory Panel grounds data-driven findings in lived experience. Panel members work directly with the study’s Policy & Valuation Leads, Dr. Thomas Craemer and Marvin Slaughter, to aid in the interpretation of community data — ensuring the data reflects the realities, histories, and perspectives of the communities it represents — and to help shape equitable, informed reparations policy recommendations. The panel’s contributions will help transform data into meaningful narratives, strengthen the validity of findings, and ensure that final recommendations are responsive, authentic, and community-centered.

“This study is about truth, repair, and the futures our communities deserve — and it will only be as strong as the voices that shape it,” said Fillmore-Sardinas. “I am honored to serve alongside Dr. Craemer, Mr. Slaughter, and my fellow panelists to make sure the lived experience of Black Washingtonians is not a footnote to this research, but its foundation.”

Paula Fillmore-Sardinas brings more than 30 years of advocacy and systems-change experience to the panel. As President & CEO of FMS Global Strategies and leader of the We Build Back Better Alliance (WBBA) — a statewide coalition of 900+ partner organizations — she has advanced equity-centered policy across banking, cannabis, small business development, environmental justice, and transportation contracting. She also serves as Co-Chair of the Washington State Artificial Intelligence Task Force and is an NPLA-credentialed lobbyist and political analyst whose work spans fifteen states and four Presidential Administrations.

The Community Advisory Panel convenes its first in-person session on July 25, 2026, in Seattle, with additional virtual discussions to follow. The study’s findings and recommendations will be delivered to the Governor and the Legislature.

About FMS Global Strategies, LLC
Founded in 2013, FMS Global Strategies, LLC is a public affairs, government relations, and community engagement firm based in Issaquah, Washington. The firm has tracked more than 1,870 bills, helped secure over $2 billion in appropriations, and passed 100 bills in a single legislative session — advancing equity-centered, community-driven policy across Washington State and beyond. FMS Global Strategies is the home of the We Build Back Better Alliance (WBBA).
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Media Contact: Tasha-Mae Haskins, Contract Operations & MarCom Director | [tashamae@fmsglobalstrategies.com] | [206-922-9000]

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FMS Global Strategies, LLC
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