Summit set to build leaders for recovery, mental health
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 6 months, 3 weeks AGO
The Eastern Washington Home Grown Leadership Summit, coming to Moses Lake April 18, will equip people who have struggled with addiction or mental illness to lead others experiencing those things.
COURTESY PHOTO/ALYSSA JOMEI
Scan this QR code to register for the Eastern Washington Home Grown Leadership Summit.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | March 23, 2026 3:15 AM
MOSES LAKE — The Eastern Washington Home Grown Leadership Summit will come to Moses Lake on April 18, to equip people who have lived through hard times to help others through them.
“It’s aimed toward folks with lived experience with mental health and substance abuse recovery,” said Alyssa Jomei, executive director of Peers Empower Peers, which is hosting the event.
The Eastern Washington Home Grown Leadership Conference is designed to find the next cohort of leaders in the areas of mental health and substance abuse recovery, not because they’re professionals in the field, but because they know those things from the inside. Those are the people who make up Peers Empower Peers, Jomei said.
“They've walked the walk and they're finding purpose in being able to go back and give hope and empower others on their journey,” Jomei said.
The keynote speaker for the summit is Raymond Gregson, who speaks openly about his struggles with addiction, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression.
“He’s an incredibly inspirational human being,” Jomei said. “His whole demeanor is just contagious. He does a lot of work for youth and fathers and (has) such deep passion for the work.”
There will also be a panel of local peers who have experience with substance abuse and mental illness, and have turned those experiences to use guiding others. The event is an opportunity to prepare others to lead as well, said Nokey Pando, one of the panelists.
“The leadership summit is designed for peers, advocates, and community members with lived experience of substance use recovery and mental health challenges, and who feel called to make a difference in our community,” Pando said. “In order for me to be a homegrown leader, the way that am it’s because there was somebody else doing it. I do this to share my experience with the community, give people different perspectives. But the biggest (reason) is to pass the torch. If I'm not saying or doing something or showing somebody what it is to be an advocate, to be a community leader, to be a leader of any sort, then we're we're letting that fire go out.”
The summit runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and there’s a catered lunch, Jomei said. There is no charge, but attendees are encouraged to donate what they can. Attendees can register through the QR code.
“My biggest hope is that people start to identify themselves as leaders,” Jomei said. “I think there's this idea out there that leaders are somebody up above us. Something that we model in the peer world is that we're standing together and that leadership is from right where we're at.”
Scan this QR code to register for the Eastern Washington Home Grown Leadership Summit.ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
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