Adam Cornell - Center for Children & Youth Justice

Adam Cornell
Adam’s passion for justice, public service, volunteerism and
advocacy stems in large measure from his own experience as a
former foster child.
As a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for Snohomish County for the
past 12 years, he has prosecuted homicides, domestic and sexual
assaults, and physical abuse crimes. From 2005 to 2010, he also
served as the county’s first full-time Special Assistant U.S. Attorney
for the Western District of Washington, prosecuting federal
narcotics and firearms crimes.
Adam is a past board member of the Child Welfare League of
America and Public Interest Works. He currently serves on the
Board of Trustees of Seattle Repertory Theatre and the Advisory
Board of the Center for Children & Youth Justice.
Appointed by two governors to the Washington Commission for National and Community Service (now
called Serve Washington), Adam helped to guide AmeriCorps and other local and national service
programs in our state from 2004 through 2009. He knows about community service first hand: The
former Peace Corps volunteer taught anger management and life skills to incarcerated juveniles in
Guyana, South America.
While working as a law clerk at the Juvenile Rights Project in Portland, Adam authored the Foster Child
Scholarship Bill, which became law in Oregon in 2001 and provides a funding mechanism for college
tuition scholarships to former foster children.
In 1990, Adam was named the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s National Youth of the Year, representing
the then 1.5 million Club members as a national spokesperson. He recently earned the Children’s
Champion Award from the Kirkland Boys & Girls Clubs.
A 1991 graduate of Woodinville High School, Adam holds a law degree from Lewis & Clark College and a
Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Georgetown University.
Adam and his wife, Whitney, live in Edmonds.