COO Strategies

When community members have voice and power in the decisions that impact their communities, and express it through civic engagement and leadership, it leads to broader community and policy changes that assure racial, health, and economic equity. Three reinforcing strategy areas are at the heart of Communities of Opportunity. 

• Place-based and cultural community partnerships that drive change locally.

• Policies and systems changes that create and sustain equity at all levels.

• A Learning community that leverages the power of collective knowledge to accelerate change. 

Place-Based & Cultural Community (PBCC) Partnerships

Community partnerships and power are essential.

Seattle Urban Native Nonprofits (SUNN), one of the partnerships supported by COO, united in spirit and practice at the UW Intellectual House

Communities of Opportunity (COO) works with partnerships in neighborhoods and cultural communities to advance better health, safe and affordable housing, economic opportunity and stronger community connections for residents. 

COO makes multi-year funding commitments to partnerships working to build community power and are rooted in:

• Cultural and identity-based communities who are most adversely impacted by health, social, economic, and racial inequities. COO seeks to support solutions that positively impact conditions, particularly in Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color, and among people with low-incomes, immigrant and refugee communities, people living with disabilities, and nongender conforming communities.

• Place-based communities where there is a confluence of indicators pointing to the most disparate health and well-being outcomes in King County. Priority is given to communities ranking in the lowest quintile for health and well-being. These areas have the greatest opportunity to close the gaps that exist –- based on the COO composite index of health and well-being indicators. This includes, isolated rural communities with significant disparities compared to areas in which they are located.

Find a full list of the Place-Based & Cultural Community partners on our Partners page.

Policies and Systems Change (SPC)

Policies and Systems play an essential role in equity.
Affordable housing, local employment, and quality education should be attainable regardless of our race, ethnicity, income, or where we live. Yet our institutions and policies shape who has access to wealth, health, and prosperity.

Communities of Opportunity partners are working to dismantle the persistent racial injustice within our systems by:

• Building community capacity to carry out coordinated advocacy efforts

• Integrating equity into policies at all levels: neighborhood, organizational, city, county, and state

• Advocating for policies that support community priorities and needs

• Expanding representation of cultural communities by stepping into leadership and political roles.

Find a full list of our funded partners through Systems and Policies grants on our Partners page.

Learning Community (LC)

The Learning Community (LC) convenes and resources activities to build capacity, share learning, facilitate new connections and test innovative models that catalyze and sustain momentum toward greater equity. Under the Learning Community model is two central components:

• Capacity Building: leadership development, organizational and partnership infrastructure, and sustained civic capacity to actualize equity. Capacity building is focused on funded partners and other organizations/groups across King County working on related and aligned efforts. For more on COO’s capacity building framework, read our Capacity Building 1-pager.

• Innovation Funding: resources for community-based research, and the piloting and testing of new and alternative ideas that contribute to systems and policy change.

Learning Community evaluation reports:

• Shifting Organizational Culture and Narrative Through Capacity Building Supports: 2022 Learning Community Capacity Building Evaluation Findings.

• Strengthening Community Capacity to Engage in Community Driven Development and Healthy Effective Partnerships: Learning Community Capacity Building Evaluation Findings (2020-21)

• Learning from COO 2014-2021: Reflections and Learnings to Improve Future Practices

For the latest Learning Community opportunities and events, sign up to receive emails. Find Learning Community tools, toolkits and resources on the Learning Community Resources page.