Washington State Academy of Sciences

What Washington State Academy of Sciences does

The Washington State Academy of Sciences (WSAS) is an independent, nonpartisan nonprofit scientific advisory body created by Washington State law (Engrossed Senate Bill 5381) in 2005 and organized in 2006 by co-founders Dr. Jim Cook (WSU) and Dr. Gordon Orians (UW). It serves as the legislatively designated source of objective scientific and technical information for Washington State, mobilizing elected members from the University of Washington, Washington State University, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the Allen Institute, Fred Hutch, and other Washington-based research institutions. WSAS operates a "working academy" model in which members must declare how they will contribute at the time of election, organized into Topical Working Groups covering environmental sustainability, jobs and infrastructure, and health/education/workforce issues.

WSAS's core products are commissioned reports, workshops, symposium proceedings, webinars, and convenings rather than technology platforms; it has no proprietary technology stack and operates with a small staff (1–10). Annual symposia have run since 2011, with topics including STEM education, wildfire, sustainable aviation, and AI for Washington. Active initiatives include the Value of Solar & Storage study for the Washington State Legislature, the "Growing with AI" 2026 webinar series on agriculture, planning of a state Science and Technology Policy Fellowship program, and the Washington Junior Academy of Sciences (WAJAS) pipeline for high school students.

Revenue comes from Washington State legislative appropriations and commissioned studies, foundation grants (e.g., the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Hoveida Family Foundation), individual donations, and event sponsorships (Allen Institute, WSU, Amazon, Boeing, Vulcan). There is no commercial pricing model; reports and convenings are provided as part of WSAS's public-service mission to Washington State.

Name

Washington State Academy of Sciences

Legal name

Washington State Academy of Sciences

Website

https://washacad.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

WSAS is an independent, nonpartisan nonprofit created by Washington State law in 2005 to serve as the state's designated science advisory body, mobilizing elected expert members to deliver evidence-based reports, symposia, and convenings to the Legislature, state agencies, and the public.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

State Science Advisory Services

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

United Nations System & Specialized Agencies (BPADAAAA)

Keywords

• Scientific policy advice
• State science advisory
• Commissioned research studies
• Scientific convening services
• Nonprofit science academy

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. State legislative appropriations and commissioned studies: WSAS was created by state law and receives funding from the Washington State Legislature, including directed commissions such as the Value of Solar & Storage study.
2. Grants from foundations and other organizations: WSAS receives grants from entities such as the National Conference of State Legislatures (for science policy fellowship planning) and has received past workshop funding from the California Council of Science and Technology with Moore and Simons Foundation backing.
3. Individual and family-foundation donations: WSAS solicits and receives individual donations, including a substantial gift from the Hoveida Family Foundation supporting K-12 STEM workforce, Indian and Native health, and COVID-19 K-12 impact assessment activities. Annual $25k match campaigns have been featured.
4. Event sponsorships: Sponsorships from organizations such as Allen Institute (title sponsor), WSU (platinum), and Amazon (gold) for events like the 20th Anniversary Celebration.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Washington State Academy of Sciences (WSAS) is an independent, nonpartisan scientific advisory body created by Washington State law in 2005 that mobilizes top scientists and engineers from across Washington and beyond to provide evidence-based scientific and technical information to state policymakers and practitioners. Its core deliverables are commissioned studies (e.g., Value of Solar & Storage for the Legislature; pinniped predation report for WDFW; hatchery reform review), workshops, symposia, webinars, and reports that translate complex science into actionable findings for the State of Washington.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• WSAS: Common abbreviation used by the organization across all materials, publications, and communications.
• Washington Junior Academy of Sciences (WAJAS)
• Growing with AI

Products and services

• Value of Solar & Storage Study
• Impact of Seals and Sea Lions on Salmon Recovery Report
• Hatchery Reform Review for WDFW
• WA Science Policy Fellowship Program Planning
• Annual Symposium
• Growing with AI Webinar Series
• Washington Junior Academy of Sciences (WAJAS) Program

Quantifiable outcome

• 14 WSAS members on Clarivate's 2025 Highly Cited Researchers list (among 2,670 U.S. researchers)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered flagship (title sponsor), core (platinum sponsor and institutional partner), major (gold sponsor), core (program partner), major (program partner), major (co-convener), major (joint convener), core (co-convener) and minor (community partners).

• Allen Instituteflagship (title sponsor)Strategic or Co-development Partner · 7 October 2025Allen Institute served as the Title Sponsor of WSAS's 20th Anniversary Celebration (Oct 7, 2025) and provides leadership participation — Allen Institute President & CEO Rui Costa moderated the keynote panel on the future of research and innovation in Washington.
• Washington State University (WSU)core (platinum sponsor and institutional partner)Strategic or Co-development Partner · 7 October 2025WSU is a Platinum Sponsor of the 20th Anniversary Celebration; WSU President Elizabeth Cantwell participated in the keynote panel. Multiple WSU faculty serve on the WSAS board and as members. WSU President Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine contributes research expertise.
• Amazonmajor (gold sponsor)GTM or Marketing Partner · 7 October 2025Amazon is a Gold Sponsor of WSAS's 20th Anniversary Celebration.
• Washington STEMcore (program partner)GTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024Co-presented at the Feb 18, 2026 ScITech Caucus lunch on 'The Science of STEM Education,' bringing together researchers and bipartisan legislators.
• Pacific Science Centermajor (program partner)GTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024Co-presented at the Feb 18, 2026 ScITech Caucus event with WSAS and Washington STEM.
• University of Washington Mobility Innovation Centermajor (co-convener)Strategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2023WSAS convened a spring 2023 roundtable on transportation resiliency in collaboration with the Mobility Innovation Center at UW, co-chaired by François Baneyx (Vice Provost of Innovation at UW and Director of CoMotion).
• National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM)major (joint convener)Strategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2023WSAS co-convened stakeholders with NASEM to inform the NASEM Committee on Community Wastewater-based Infectious Disease Surveillance, leveraging WSAS's state-level network.
• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)core (co-convener)Strategic or Co-development Partner · 8 December 2020Co-hosted the Community Dialogue on the Science of COVID-19 for the Tri-Cities (Dec 8, 2020) with 135+ online attendees; PNNL Director Steven Ashby and Kristin Omberg (PNNL) participated as speakers. PNNL researchers also serve on WSAS projects and as members.
• TRIDEC and other Tri-Cities community organizationsminor (community partners)GTM or Marketing Partner · 8 December 2020Community partners including TRIDEC, Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce, Tri-Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Columbia Basin Badger Club, Benton-Franklin Community Health Alliance, Coalition for a Healthy Benton City, KEY Connection, and Pasco Discovery Coalition helped to inform and advertise the Dec 8, 2020 COVID-19 Tri-Cities dialogue.
• Washington STEM (formerly Washington STEM)major (program partner)GTM or Marketing Partner · 22 September 2011Participated in the 2011 Annual Symposium 'STEM Education in Washington State: The Facts of the Matter' as a partner organization alongside the Pacific Science Center and other organizations.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Carnegie Science (Carnegie Institution for Science): Major private scientific research organization whose leadership has participated in WSAS convenings (e.g., the 20th Anniversary keynote); adjacent ecosystem player in the national scientific infrastructure WSAS draws upon.
• Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA): Advocacy coalition promoting social science research funding; thematically adjacent as a science-policy advocacy organization, though focused on federal funding rather than state-level convening.
• Research!America: Nonprofit advocacy alliance for U.S. scientific and medical research; comparable as a nonpartisan science-policy advocacy organization working at the federal/state interface.
• Bipartisan Policy Center: D.C.-based think tank that convenes bipartisan legislators and experts on policy issues; adjacent as a bipartisan convener operating in the same policy-advice niche WSAS occupies at the state level.

Direct peers

• Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science and Technology (TAMEST): Texas-based, nonpartisan scientific organization that mobilizes elected members (including Nobel laureates and National Academies members) to advise state policymakers and industry—closely mirrors WSAS's 'working academy' model and convening role.
• New York Academy of Sciences: Long-standing, member-driven scientific organization that convenes experts, publishes research, and runs STEM programming—comparable to WSAS in its working-academy ethos and K-12 pipeline efforts.
• California Council on Science and Technology (CCST): California's legislatively chartered, nonpartisan science advisory body that commissions studies and convenes experts for state policymakers—the closest functional analog to WSAS, including a science and technology policy fellowship program that WSAS is explicitly modeling.

Broad incumbents

• American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS): Large, broad-scope scientific society and publisher of Science; overlaps with WSAS through AAAS Fellows and the annual meeting that hosts AJAS delegates sponsored by WSAS programs.
• National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM): The national-level, congressionally chartered scientific advisor that WSAS partners with and explicitly complements at the state level; operates at a much larger scale and broader mandate.

Regional players

• Florida Academy of Sciences: A state-level scientific academy, though historically more academic/publish-oriented than WSAS's policy-advisory focus; comparable as a state-scale scientific membership body.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/WashAcad
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/washington-state-academy-of-sciences

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Washington State Academy of Sciences