Partner news! Awards and Acknowledgements (January 2022)

Partners in the News

Podcast interview with CHOOSE 180 Executive Director Sean Goode on the organizations new living wage policy : "Philanthropy will follow" Choose 180 shows that change begins within.

Executive Director of Choose 180, Sean's focus on transforming unjust systems led his organization to make an overdue-yet-unheard-of change in 2021: they moved to an organization-wide living wage policy. You heard that right; every employee at Choose 180 makes a living wage.

Sean is also wrote this feature for the City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods blog, I Know What You Did Last Summer:

It is in our service to those that are unable to serve themselves that we find ourselves closest to the call of justice from within. The call that beckons us to see our shared humanity. The call that, when answered, will allow us to be the city that all our neighbors need us to be.

Seattle Times feature on the impact of COVID-19 on the Trans community in the Seattle area includes an interview with UTOPIA WA Executive Director, Tepatasi Vaina: COVID’s invisible toll on Seattle’s trans community:

“There isn’t a lot of data that supports our needs already, and we saw that carry on during the pandemic. Without this data, we continue to invisibilize the most impacted communities.”

-Tepatasi Vaina

REsources, Opportunities & Events

COVID-19 Learning from Community Stories showcase & celebration (December 16, 2021)

COVID-19 Learning from Community Stories Showcase recordings available!

Recordings from the December 16 virtual showcase highlighting the projects of the Washington Dream Coalition, the Tesfa Project, King County Equity Now, Colectivo Pueblos Originarios, and Centro Cultural Mexicano are now available on the COO website here. COO is thankful for each of the organizations' work over the past year to uplift the experiences of communities most impacted by COVID-19 and for sharing their journeys and culminating resources from their community-led data collection and storytelling projects. Learn more about the projects and how to connect here. 

An event that uplifts and celebrates the work of youth leaders in King County communities who are to organizing, strategizing and creating anti-racist systems and communities of belonging. Hosted by Best Starts for Kids Healthy and Safe Environments program and Communities of Opportunity. https://www.movinginsolidarity.com/agenda

2021 Youth Summit: Moving in Solidarity

Thank you to all who joined the December 2021 Youth Summit! We were uplifted to be in the presence of so many community members to listen and learn from and with the youth organizers and young leaders who generously shared the different ways they are building solidarity in the push for greater equity, justice, transformative change and liberation for communities of true belonging.
Recorded sessions may be viewed here. English closed captions available. Spanish and Korean translations to come.

"Solidarity is hard to show in a picture because it is a moving and ebbing process that changes as people begin to solidify and find community in others. However, I feel that the act of love is one way in which we show solidarity. Love not in romanized terms but love by choosing to show up, choosing to look up, and choosing to quell your voice to make room for others. I took this picture in early 2020 and I feel that this picture models what I want my solidarity to look like, choosing to see life through a lens of love."
- Syd Walter (Moving in Solidarity Youth Planning Team)

Drawing of many different people of different races, ethnicities, ages and genders over text saying: January 2022, The Gathering Collaborative to tackle racism as a public health crisis in King County

What is the Gathering Collaborative? This is a vision of community "Ambassadors & Amplifiers", leaders trusted from communities most harmed by systemic racism and colonialism, brought together by Abigail Echo-Hawk, Ben Danielson and King County Executive Dow Constantine (the co-chairs), to ensure that The Gathering Collaborative is being done in a trustworthy way. Go here to get involved.

Community members invited to serve on Gathering Collaborative for King County's Racism is a Public Health Crisis initiative 

Racism is a Public Health Crisis Gathering Collaborative is a group of community members that will take part in a community designed and led process to equitably spend federal funds to undo the harms of racism compounded by the pandemic, influence the County's next budget cycle, and establish a longer-term vision for King County to become an anti-racist government.

Members of the Gathering Collaborative will strive to make a generational impact, build community-to-community capacity, and institutionalize how King County builds trustworthiness and shares power and resources with Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color communities.
​
For more information, visit the King County website, or contact King County staff at kingcounty.antiracism@gmail.com.


Statewide Poverty Action Network, Front and Centered, and the People’s Economy Lab are seeking community-based organizations in Washington State to host and facilitate community listening sessions for the Just Future Project.

Just Future is an initiative to develop a community vision and metrics for a just and equitable economy and an accountability process for Washington State in policy, programs, and funding. The visions developed by your communities will be submitted to our state legislature to shape government policies and programs for our economy's recovery.

THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUR COMMUNITY TO DEFINE HOW OUR STATE GOVERNMENT MAKES DECISIONS, OPERATES AND ALLOCATES RESOURCES.
Sessions will be hosted until the end of February 2022.
Compensation:

  • $1,000 per online listening session

  • $1,500 per in person listening session

  • Outreach & facilitation

  • 90 minute session duration

  • 10 - 15 persons minimum

Contact Program Manager, Faduma Ahmed to discuss hosting a session: faduma@peopleseconomylab.org



The People's Budget - Your Voice, Your Choice! Info Session

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, 6 PM – 7:30 PM
Participatory Budgeting (PB) Info Session! Learn how to engage in PB in unincorporated King County.

The People’s Budget - Your Voice, Your Choice!

Join the Re+ Community Panel and help us create a more equitable, waste-free King County!

King County is looking for members of frontline communities most affected by climate change to join our Re+ Community Panel. RE+ is a King County program that’s dedicated to addressing climate change through preventing and reducing waste. As a panel member, you’ll help shape waste-prevention strategies that remove barriers and center community priorities. Sound like a good fit? Apply today!
All applications are due on Friday, Jan. 21.
Learn more: https://kingcounty.gov/re-plus

The National Equity Atlas is launching an open application for people of color working at community-based organizations to become year-long National Equity Atlas Fellows. They are accepting applications through January 21, 2022, and the program will start in March 2022:

"Data that is disaggregated by race, gender, income, and geography are crucial to advancing policies that counter structural racism, eliminate racial and economic inequities, and further racial equity. Yet, grassroots community-based organizations that are advocating for equity-focused policy solutions face barriers to accessing, analyzing, and effectively incorporating local data into their policy advocacy efforts. Through the Equity Data Fellowship, the National Equity Atlas (a partnership between PolicyLink and the USC Equity Research Institute) will work with 12 grassroots leaders of color to sharpen their data skills and produce new data visualizations, dashboards, factsheets, or other research products to strengthen their organization’s policy campaigns."Questions? Please email Selena Tan at selena@policylink.org.

King County Metro is seeking new members to join the Mobility Equity Cabinet to ensure that voices of traditionally underrepresented perspectives are heard as we make our mobility system safer and more equitable. The Equity Cabinet was established in 2019 to co-create a policy framework and update Metro’s policies to center equity and sustainability. In 2022-2023, the cabinet’s focus will include advising Metro to implement policies that center equity and sustainability in how Metro

  1. invests in public transit and related infrastructure,

  2. integrates new mobility choices, and

  3. engages communities in decision-making.

Cabinet members are compensated for their time at a rate of $75/hour. Reasonable accommodations needed to allow for a member’s full participation are provided such as interpretation, translation of materials, transportation, childcare, etc.

More information and application instructions are here. 

API Chaya: Human Trafficking 101 - A Community Education Series Workshop

Saturday, January 29th, 11am - 2pm (PST)
Register here: https://forms.gle/G7jDwDpt75aRZ6mCA
Join API Chaya for an introduction to the dynamics of human trafficking and how to support survivors. This workshop is being offered as part of our Natural Helpers Training Program. If you would like to delve deeper into the root causes of human trafficking and continue learning about how you can support survivors through different forms of violence, please consider joining our Natural Helpers Training!

Natural Helpers Train-the-Trainer Program!

Saturdays, January 29th - June 25th (mostly every other Saturday) 11am - 2pm (PST). All trainings will be held virtually via Zoom.
Apply here and view our workshop schedule: https://forms.gle/iVDNqbYLPYPBcWtc8
Are you wanting to grow your skills to facilitate conversations around gender based violence in your communities? Have you heard about community-based responses to harm and violence and are looking for a space to learn and explore these ideas with your pod or collective? Check out the API Chaya Natural Helpers Train-the-Trainer Program beginning this month! This training program is focused on building the skills and leadership of people to respond to gender-based violence, and to facilitate Natural Helpers training workshops in your communities.

Exact dates and workshop topics can be found on our registration page. You can also RSVP to a information session on Saturday, January 15th, 11am - 12pm through the registration form. Please send your questions and comments to pacheena@apichaya.org

The 9th annual State of Africatown is January 22nd! 

Click on this link to RSVP for this
virtual convening, bringing you the latest news you can use for 2022 and beyond!



Na'ah Illahee Fund NEW Native Neighborhood survey!

Answers to this survey can help create a place of belonging for the Seattle Native community. This 15-minute survey that was made by and for Native and Indigenous People. After filling out the survey, you can enter to win a drawing for prizes made by local Native artists. Survey link here: bit.ly/stoodissurvey

Community Credit Lab (CCL) is seeking new Board Members!

"At CCL, we believe that diversity is integral to effective strategy. We are committed to building a team, Board, and Advisory Board that represents a variety of backgrounds and lived experiences. We know that our ability to support Borrowers and Lending Partners effectively depends on the inclusivity of our staff and governance."

Apply here

King County Suicide Prevention Coalition strategic planning survey

COVID relief funds have been set forth to convene a regional (King County, Washington), Suicide Prevention Coalition, and support implementation of its related strategic efforts. This coalition will inform and direct additional support for youth suicide prevention strategies, to be implemented across communities. The goals of the coalition will be to coordinate overarching strategies involving ongoing and new youth isolation and suicide prevention initiatives, while also improving linkages and coordination of “post-vention” services.

Survey Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/39RHW5J

Survey respondents who expressed interest in participating in coalition efforts will be communicated with for the purpose of convening coalition meeting(s). Survey responses will be combined and shared with the coalition to help support strategic assessment, coordination and planning conversations.

Questions? Please contact Erin Carosa, Suicide Prevention Coordinator, King County Behavioral Health and Recovery Division: Erin.Carosa@kingcounty.gov

REcent Awards

King County - $23.4 million in affordable housing funding for construction and preservation throughout King County

Including $3,250,000 to Community Roots Housing / White Center Community Development Association, White Center for a redevelopment of the White Center Hub will provide 76 units of affordable housing as well as commercial space to house a community center and event space for programming.

The work towards the community centered and community-designed White Center Community HUB was highlighted in COO’s section of the Best Starts for Kids 2020 Annual Report. Congrats to WCCDA on this grant to move the work for affordable housing and community space forward!

Funding Black Joy and Self-Care - Seattle Foundation’s Black-led Joy & Wellness Fund grants $540,000 to 29 King County Organizations

The emphasis of this fund that supports joy and wellness stems from prior work with the Black-Led Organization Cohort, and the needs for a new funding opportunity that focuses on supporting the physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing of staff at Black-led organizations. For any peer funders, philanthropists, or individual donors that wish to support Black-led organizations and emerging priorities lifted up by Black leaders, please email Seattle Foundation Senior Program Officer Jonathan Cunningham at j.cunningham@seattlefoundation.org. Funded organizations include: Central Area Collaborative, Black Dollar Days Task Force / Clean Greens Farm Market, Black Prisoners’ Caucus, Lavender Rights Project, Not This Time, Nurturing Roots.

City of Seattle - Neighborhood Economic Recovery Grants (more info here)

Neighborhood Economic Recovery Fund Request for Proposals award recipients include COO partners: Wa Na Wari, Chief Seattle Club, Multicultural Community Coalition, Seattle Rideshare Driver’s Coalition (a People’s Economy Lab Fellow), Somali Health Board, Ranier Beach Action Coalition (RBAC), and Community Roots Housing

Direct grant recipients to business district organizations include COO partners: Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority (SCIPda), Rainier Beach Action Coalition (RBAC), and Homesight.

King County Revive and Thrive Arts and Culture Grant (more info here)

Africatown Community Land Trust is one COO partner that was awarded through the Arts & Culture grant to support the economic recovery of the creative sector.

King County awards $2.8 million in grants from marijuana fund to five BIPOC-led community organizations to address disproportionate drug enforcement impacts

Including COO community partners:

  • African Community Housing and Development for holistic, culturally and linguistically relevant legal support and case management to vacate and seal records, help families knowledgeably navigate the justice system, and reenter the workforce throughout the region.

  • Chief Seattle Club for Native-led criminal legal system navigation, direct financial relief, and connection to holistic in-house supports.

  • Freedom Project for Black-led regional pre-release approach to record vacation and direct financial relief via incarcerated paralegals and state level advocacy.

City of Seattle’s Environmental Justice Fund Awards $750,000 in Grants for 14 Projects Led by and Benefiting Those Most Impacted by Climate Change

Including, COO community partner Wa Na Wari to focus on a comprehensive garden redesign that implements both a learning lab space and a spring to fall co-design workshop where local BIPOC community members have access to green space and community building opportunities amid the ongoing COVID pandemic. They will design young adult and intergenerational learning labs for soil remediation that are both culturally attuned and deeply scientific at the same time to seed deeper cross-cultural understandings.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awards $14.1 million in environmental justice grant funding

133 projects, including COO partner, Front and Centered to create a community-based environmental monitoring, reporting, and enforcement system in the Duwamish River Valley, Skagit County, and Yakima County, through community outreach and education, developing an environmental monitoring tool, and a Community and Government Work Group to respond to reports of violations.

Job Opportunities

Current opportunities with COO community & institutional partners (updated 1/20/2022):

ImpactWhitney Johnsonpartner news