WHAT WE DO
We Believe in These Kids. Completely.
Not as a tagline. Not as a mission statement. As a daily, practiced conviction that shows up in every mentoring session, every tutoring hour, every soccer game, and every counseling room in Spokane and Eastern Washington.
A MESSAGE FROM OUR FOUNDER
Built From the Inside Out
By Jackson Lino, Founder & Director, Roots International
Roots International was born from lived experience, from knowing firsthand what it means to grow up between worlds, searching for identity, belonging, and a place where your potential is finally seen. Our founder, Jackson Lino, carries that experience with him into everything Roots does. Every young person we serve reminds our team of the challenges so many newcomers face, the uncertainty, the cultural confusion, the pressure to adapt, the unspoken trauma carried quietly, and the hope that someone, somewhere, will believe in you. That hope is what Roots International was built to answer. Not as one person's mission, but as a community's commitment.
— Jackson Lino, Founder & Director
OUR STORY
Born From Experience. Built With Purpose.
Roots International didn't begin in a boardroom or a grant application. It began in the lived experience of a young person who navigated displacement, cultural confusion, and the quiet weight of feeling like an outsider in a world that wasn't built for him, and who decided that no young person after him should have to navigate it alone.
Jackson built Roots International around a recognition that the systems surrounding refugee and immigrant youth, however well-intentioned, were rarely designed with those youth in mind. The tutoring programs didn't account for trauma. The sports leagues didn't account for language. The mental health resources didn't account for culture.
So he built something that did.
Today, Roots International serves youth ages 8 to 25 across Spokane and Eastern Washington, meeting them through six interconnected pathways designed from the ground up to be trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and deeply relational.
We don't parachute in. We show up consistently, and we stay.
OUR VALUES
What We Know to Be True
Young people are the experts on their own lives. We don't design programs for youth; we build them with and around them. Their voices shape everything we do.
Belonging is not a bonus. It's the foundation. A young person cannot learn, lead, or heal in a place where they don't feel they belong. Everything we build starts there.
Strength before deficit. The youth we serve have already demonstrated extraordinary resilience. We start from that truth, not from a list of what they lack.
Community is the intervention. No single program, mentor, or counselor changes a life in isolation. It takes a whole community showing up consistently over time. That is what Roots is building.
IN JACKSON'S WORDS
Why This Work Is Personal
"This work is not abstract to me. It is personal. I am invested with everything I am because I have lived these challenges, and I have witnessed the transformation that happens when a young person finally gets the support they deserve.
When anyone supports Roots International, they are not funding programs — they are investing in futures. They are helping young people discover their voice, their identity, and their potential. They are helping them build roots strong enough to anchor them through every storm and deep enough to nourish them for years to come.
I am committed to this mission with everything in me, and I hope my community will join me in this new chapter."
— Jackson Lino, Founder & Director, Roots International
OUR TEAM
We Are Roots
Roots International is led by a small, dedicated team of individuals who bring lived experience, professional expertise, and deep personal investment to this work. We are educators, advocates, coaches, and community builders, and many of us know firsthand what it means to navigate the journey our youth are on.
Jackson Lino Founder & Director
Jackson created Roots International from a place of personal experience and unshakeable conviction. Having navigated displacement, cultural confusion, and the search for belonging himself, he built Roots to be the community he once needed. He leads with empathy, vision, and an unwavering belief in the potential of every young person who walks through our doors.
Bob Savage, President, Board of Directors
Bob Savage has decades of non-profit leadership experience. As a longtime volunteer and former Church and Community Engagement Manager for World Relief Spokane, Bob has befriended and walked alongside refugee and immigrant families and rallied Spokane's faith community to meet them with open arms.
Together with his wife Martha, Bob has built a life of advocacy rooted in the belief that newcomers to our community deserve more than a warm welcome; they deserve a genuine partner. That conviction makes him a natural fit at the helm of Roots International's board.
Shannon Price, Engagement Coordinator
Shannon Price has spent more than seven years building relationships with refugee youth across Washington, and relationship is exactly the right word. For Shannon, this work has never been about programs or metrics. It's about knowing a young person's name, remembering their story, and showing up for them consistently enough that they begin to believe someone will always be there.
As Engagement Coordinator, Shannon is often the first voice people hear when they reach out to Roots International, whether they're a prospective volunteer, a potential partner, or a family looking for support. She brings to every conversation the same quality that defines her work with youth: the ability to make people feel genuinely seen from the very first moment.
Brando Wood, Soccer Coach
Brando Wood brings many years of teaching and coaching across the region to his role guiding the next generation of footballers at Roots FC. For Brando, soccer has never been just about the game: it's about the lifelong connections formed through it. He believes sport is one of the most powerful bridges a community can build, one where everyone benefits and everyone finds success.
On the pitch, Brando creates a space where players share their passion for the game, learn from one another, and celebrate their collective efforts, both on and off the field. His philosophy is simple enough to fit on a team huddle: Let's get it.