Communities of Opportunity Info Session Recording and Updates - November 2021

This past August, with over 62% approval, King County voters overwhelmingly chose to renew Best Starts and continue building toward our shared vision for our children, youth, families, and communities. Our work together showed us what’s possible when community, government, and philanthropy partner in new ways and put equity at the heart of everything that we do. 

COO is ready to hit the ground running and continue the momentum we’ve built together. On July 28th, Executive Constantine transmitted the Best Starts for Kids Implementation Plan to the King County Council. The Best Starts for Kids 2022-27 Implementation Plan outlines proposed investments for the next Best Starts for Kids levy. If adopted, the plan will maintain current investments across the main Best Starts strategies (including Communities of Opportunity) and deepen other investments to meet critical needs in King County. We encourage you to read the Implementation Plan (linked here) and to follow along with Council discussions as the process continues. This interview with the Best Starts for Kids Implementation Manager also provides information on the process, timeline and next steps for the next phase of Best Starts implementation.

For how all this impacts Communities of Opportunity, we invited partners to join COO Director, Andréa Akita at two drop-in informational sessions to learn about the process, context and how it impacts COO now and moving forward. These sessions were held on October 28 and November 5th (the November 5th session recording can be viewed below). We will also continue to share updates and information as the process proceeds through Council with our partners through their Program Managers, as well as through our newsletter and blog.

Communities of Opportunity (COO) 2022-27 Info Session with COO Director, Andrea Akita on November 5, 2021

We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished together over the past five years, and deeply grateful to be able to continue this journey alongside all of you!

Questions?

Please reach out to your Program Manager or you can also contact Andréa Akita at andrea.akita@kingcounty.gov