A sense of belonging ties diversity, equity, and inclusion together. Together we create a safe place where every parent is welcomed, respected, valued and cherished as part of our A Common Voice community.
Who We Are
A Common Voice Community
The People Behind
Our Team
Our lived experience speaks truth into the complexities of parenting a child/youth with complex behavioral health care needs.
Executive Director
Sherry Lyons
Integrity in her work with Parents, family peers, providers, and system partners is a high priority for Sherry.
Starting in 1999 as a Parent having difficulty, Sherry knows firsthand what kind of stress a Parent can experience while parenting a young person experiencing emotional distress. Her career started off with helping other parents as a Parent Partner. From Parent Partner to Executive Director, Sherry has maintained both the Parent and Family Peer perspective and has been essential to all other helping roles to better understand, guide, and supervise the role of Family Peers.
In her role as Executive Director of A Common Voice (a statewide Family Support Organization) Sherry has hired, employed, trained, and mentored Parents in the role of Certified Parent Peer Supports for over 25 years. Certified by WA State DBHR/HCA in Youth & Family Certified Peer Counselor Training and Supervision of Peers Training and has completed the Train the Trainer Certifications for both. For over adecade and 1000’s of hours Sherry has been a leader in training the WA State Parent Peer workforce. Asa Family Peer herself, Sherry utilizes relevant parts of her lived and working experience to equip the WA State Peer workforce.
Sherry demonstrates her leadership style in an open, straightforward, sincere, positive, and encouraging manner. Sherry considers humor as a necessary pathway to learning and enjoys laughter.
Starting in 1999 as a Parent having difficulty, Sherry knows firsthand what kind of stress a Parent can experience while parenting a young person experiencing emotional distress. Her career started off with helping other parents as a Parent Partner. From Parent Partner to Executive Director, Sherry has maintained both the Parent and Family Peer perspective and has been essential to all other helping roles to better understand, guide, and supervise the role of Family Peers.
In her role as Executive Director of A Common Voice (a statewide Family Support Organization) Sherry has hired, employed, trained, and mentored Parents in the role of Certified Parent Peer Supports for over 25 years. Certified by WA State DBHR/HCA in Youth & Family Certified Peer Counselor Training and Supervision of Peers Training and has completed the Train the Trainer Certifications for both. For over adecade and 1000’s of hours Sherry has been a leader in training the WA State Parent Peer workforce. Asa Family Peer herself, Sherry utilizes relevant parts of her lived and working experience to equip the WA State Peer workforce.
Sherry demonstrates her leadership style in an open, straightforward, sincere, positive, and encouraging manner. Sherry considers humor as a necessary pathway to learning and enjoys laughter.
Our Lead Parent Support Specialists (LPSS)
Amy Steed
Amy Steed has served as a Lead Family Partner in WISe for more than seven years, supporting families through some of their most challenging moments.
Drawing from both professional expertise and lived family experience, Amy Steed is dedicated to walking alongside parents and caregivers as they navigate the behavioral health system. She combines professional knowledge with lived experience to offer families understanding, guidance, and hope during times of uncertainty.
In her leadership role, Amy supervised and supported peer partners, helping them grow in their own practice while ensuring families receive consistent, family-centered care. Her background includes extensive work in inpatient and intensive treatment settings, where she has advocated for meaningful family involvement and collaboration between caregivers and clinical teams.
Amy is passionate about helping parents recognize their own strengths and believes that when families are empowered and supported, children thrive.
Lauren Woodbeck
Lauren is the Lead Parent Support Specialist Navigator with A Common Voice COPE Project, serving families across the Salish, Great Rivers, and Southwest regions of Washington State. She is a proud mother of four children, three of whom are on the autism spectrum and experience unique behavioral health care needs.
After participating in the WISe program for several years, Lauren connected with other parents facing similar challenges and discovered her passion for supporting families. Following her certification as a Washington State Certified Peer Counselor, she launched her career as a Parent Partner within the same WISe program that once supported her own family. In addition, Lauren holds a Supervisor of Peers credential, further strengthening her leadership within the peer support community.
Lauren now serves as a Family Partner Tri-Lead on her county’s local FYSPRT (Family Youth System Partner Round Table), continuing her advocacy for family voice and empowerment in behavioral health systems. She recently earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Social Work. Dedicated, compassionate, and deeply empathetic, Lauren is committed to empowering families and ensuring their voices are heard. Her passion for helping others shines through within moments of meeting her.
Nicole Murphy
Nicole Murphy is the Deputy Director of A Common Voice | C.O.P.E. Project, a statewide family-run organization in Washington dedicated to strengthening the behavioral health system through lived experience and peer leadership. Based in Spokane, Nicole oversees statewide operations, strategic partnerships, and program development for initiatives that uplift families and ensure that the family voice drives systems-level change.
As a Certified Peer Counselor, mother, wife, and person in long-term recovery, Nicole brings both authenticity and empathy to her leadership. Her lived experience raising a child with behavioral health challenges gives her a rare and powerful perspective—allowing her to meet families exactly where they are, without judgment and with deep compassion.
Nicole’s professional background spans WISe (Wraparound with Intensive Services) teams, drug and alcohol treatment settings, and leadership within peer-run agencies. She currently serves as the Family Tri-Lead for the Northeast FYSPRT (Family Youth System Partner Round Table), where she ensures families are not just invited to the table but have an equal voice in shaping the systems that impact their lives.
In 2018, Nicole was recognized as Peer Support Specialist of the Year at Passages Family Support. She is also a proud member of Phi Alpha, the National Honor Society for Social Work, and graduated Summa Cum Laude at the top of her class with a Bachelor of Social Work from Troy University. Nicole has been accepted into Troy University’s Advanced Standing Master of Social Work program, continuing her academic journey with distinction and purpose.
Grounded in her core values of honesty, hope, and courage, Nicole believes that “Nothing about us without us” is just the starting point. Under her leadership, families are not only seen as stakeholders—they are recognized as changemakers, shaping a more compassionate, equitable behavioral health system for generations to come.
Nicole’s professional background spans WISe (Wraparound with Intensive Services) teams, drug and alcohol treatment settings, and leadership within peer-run agencies. She currently serves as the Family Tri-Lead for the Northeast FYSPRT (Family Youth System Partner Round Table), where she ensures families are not just invited to the table but have an equal voice in shaping the systems that impact their lives.
In 2018, Nicole was recognized as Peer Support Specialist of the Year at Passages Family Support. She is also a proud member of Phi Alpha, the National Honor Society for Social Work, and graduated Summa Cum Laude at the top of her class with a Bachelor of Social Work from Troy University. Nicole has been accepted into Troy University’s Advanced Standing Master of Social Work program, continuing her academic journey with distinction and purpose.
Grounded in her core values of honesty, hope, and courage, Nicole believes that “Nothing about us without us” is just the starting point. Under her leadership, families are not only seen as stakeholders—they are recognized as changemakers, shaping a more compassionate, equitable behavioral health system for generations to come.
Rossana “Ro” Linn
Rossana “Ro” Linn (she/her) is the Lead Parent Support Specialist at A Common Voice and an immigrant from Uruguay. As a parent of three, Ro has firsthand experience navigating complex systems—from behavioral health and juvenile justice to supporting a young person in the LGBTQ+ community. These lived experiences have fostered deep empathy and commitment to helping families find understanding, empowerment, and hope.
Ro began her peer support journey in 2016, transforming her family’s challenges into advocacy and healing. That same year, she earned two certifications as a Youth & Family Peer Counselor (CPC) and began working within the WISe program, walking alongside families on their paths toward recovery and connection.
Before entering the behavioral health field, Ro earned an Associate degree in Human Resources and worked as a fitness instructor in local gyms and churches, where she promoted exercise as a powerful tool for mental wellness and community connection.
Ro is passionate about helping others and finds inspiration in witnessing the progress that emerges from shared experiences. In her words:
“Recovery is a shared journey. Recovery happens when you start sharing.”
Jasmine Martinez, a former Behavioral Management Specialist and BMS Program Director, has firsthand experience in behavioral health. As a devoted wife and mother of four, including two children with chronic illness and special needs, she became a Certified Peer Counselor after advocating for her own family for over a decade. Currently, she serves as the Program Manager for A Common Voice | C.O.P.E. Project, offering crucial support to parents statewide. Jasmine's unwavering dedication is evident through her involvement in various committees and fellowships, where she amplifies the family voice and provides hope to overwhelmed families navigating the behavioral health system.
Jasmine MartinezProgram Manager 
Sherry Lyons is the Executive Director of A Common Voice with over a decade of direct experience shaping the workforce of Family Peers in WA State. Sherry herself has the lived experience of parenting a youth accessing the WA State Children’s Behavioral Healthcare System. Sherry specializes in training, coaching, and supporting Parents in the role of Family/Parent Peers. Since 2008, Sherry has prioritized hundreds of hours training the workforce of Family/Parent Peers within the WA “WISe” model of care. A strong believer in the power of positive thinking both personally and professionally, Sherry inspires others to look at “what is and can be” in all situations. Sherry welcomes positive energy from people as equally as she loves the solitude of a walk along the ocean beach. She also recommends aerobic exercise through the practice of a good belly laugh! Nationally certified in 2012 as a Certified Parent Support Provider, Sherry has been a WA State Certified Peer Counselor since 2010. And a Parent Partner since 1999.
Sherry LyonsExecutive Director 
Our Lead Parent Support Specialists (LPSS)
Nicole Murphy is a Certified Peer Counselor located in Spokane Washington, currently working at..
Nicole MurphyRead More 
Lead Parent Support Specialist with A Common Voice COPE Project in the Salish, Great Rivers, and Southwest...
Lauren WoodbeckRead More 
Planting seeds of Hope
Our History
We are a grass roots family organization serving, supporting, and holding the Hope for parents and caregivers since 1995. In 2021, A Common Voice was awarded a contract through Washington State Healthcare Authority expanding our county specific support to statewide accessibility! Now, we are A Common Voice | C.O.P.E. Project (Center of Parent Excellence). Moving towards less barriers and more support!
Who We Are
- Trained parent leaders who have extensive experience in navigating the WA Behavioral Health System
- Consultants and trainers representing parent voice for various state initiatives
- Certified Parent Advocates with lived experience
We Are Not
- We are not a crisis-line! All LPSSs will refer all crises to mental health providers, WISe teams, 988 and / or 911
- Regardless of expertise, experience, or credentials our support is not designed or intended to replace the need or services of mental health providers
- We do not follow a “do-for” approach, but rather a “do-with” approach. LPSS support is always meant to empower parents / caregivers; to advocate WITH rather than advocate FOR.
Holding the Hope
Thousands of Families And Growing
Lead Parent Support Specialists fill the role of “tour guide rather than travel agent” as they go alongside
another parent/caregiver navigating the Washington State Children’s Behavioral Healthcare system.
Thousands of parent/caregivers across Washington State have been connected, supported, and
empowered through the parent to parent support services of A Common Voice and the C.O.P.E. Project.
