English learners (ELs) make up 10% of the U.S. student population and are increasingly enrolling in school districts that have little experience with educating these students. A majority of states report shortages in teachers prepared to work with ELs, particularly in the area of bilingual education. Grow Your Own (GYO) programs that recruit and prepare future educators from the community have the potential to increase the supply of bilingual educators who can provide ELs with instruction in their home languages and support their mastery of academic content. Policy makers in Washington State are taking an intentional approach toward remediating educator shortages in the state through alternative routes to certification, expanded pathways for paraeducators, and targeted course work for high school students. Alternative routes are positioned as a driver of local innovation that places emphasis on GYO approaches and the recruitment of teacher candidates from underserved populations. State grants support the development of university-school district partnerships to recruit and prepare a teacher workforce to meet local needs. The Woodring Highline Bilingual Fellows program is a partnership aimed at preparing bilingual paraeducators to become licensed teachers in order to meet the school district's growing need for bilingual educators. Key lessons from Washington's myriad initiatives point to the need for collaboration between multiple stakeholders to ensure a common vision and mission for these programs.