Class of 2023 Community Projects

Photo: Members of the LT’23 cohort presenting to their community partner, King County Elections

One component of Leadership Tomorrow’s Flagship Program is taking collective action in the context of a current regional challenge or opportunity via Community Projects. Community Projects are six- to seven-month long initiatives to further racial equity and social justice in our region that are undertaken in partnership between cross-sector teams (also referred to as Lab Teams) of seven to eight working professionals in Leadership Tomorrow’s Flagship Program and nonprofit or public sector organizations or groups in the region.  Below are short summaries of the projects they completed.

Asian Pacific Islander Community Leadership Foundation (ACLF)

We collaborated with the ACLF on a project to enhance their leadership development program. We focused on developing a racial equity guide that would complement their existing curriculum, enabling them to engage in internal reflection and make necessary updates to better promote racial equity.

Build 2 Lead and Virginia Mason Franciscan Health

We engaged with a coalition of groups spearheaded by Build 2 Lead and Virginia Mason Franciscan Health. These groups were collaborating to advance career opportunities and learning paths available to underrepresented youth. We dove deep in the project management and marketing spaces, with some work on mentorship programs as well.

Civic Commons – Belonging Compact

We partnered with Civic Commons in their effort to expand their Belonging Compact into more organizations. The goal is not just for organizations to sign their name to the compact, but to believe in the compact and live the compact through individual and organization-wide action.

Evergreen Social Impact (ESI) – The Impact On US!

We worked with ESI to help them conduct interviews with potential sponsored projects; develop an outreach plan within ESI’s capacity to connect with additional potential projects; and recommend a model of shared leadership and co-creation within ESI to ensure sponsored projects see their voice represented in ESI’s approach.

King County Elections (KCE) External Communications Assessment

We assessed KCE's external communications and outreach efforts to better understand how voting information is received by diverse communities, particularly communities where English is not the first language. We identified four work streams: external comparison research, community-based focus groups, recommendations report, and presentation to KCE team.

Plymouth Healing Communities (PHC)

We partnered with PHC to support their journey in becoming an antiracist organization and have a board reflective of the staff and population that PHC serves. We collaborated on a matrix of voices assessment for current and incoming board members, enabling PHC to identity gaps in representation and better identify board members' expertise and experiences.

Rainier Valley Food Bank (RVFB)

RVFB is the busiest food bank in Seattle. They recently moved to a new building and are planning an expansion of its facilities on the site. The extra space will support programming to better serve the community. It was our task to help RVFB make the most of the possibilities of expansion.

RISE (Resilient in Sustaining Empowerment)

RISE provides support for marginalized communities directly impacted by gun violence, vulnerable children, mothers and families. Our goal was to provide an assessment of RISE’s strengths, goals, and opportunities to assist RISE in prioritizing its work of assisting survivors of gun violence and begin developing a strategic plan.

State of Washington – Equitable Hiring Practices for a Diverse Workforce

At the State of Washington, there are plans to assess current hiring and retention procedures and create more equitable practices. In preparation for that work, we partnered with the Office of Financial Management to provide a better understanding of the current state of hiring processes among some HR departments in State agencies, identify roadblocks to hiring a more diverse workforce, and offer considerations to make hiring efforts more inclusive and equitable.

YouthCare

We partnered with YouthCare to review their existing policies related to client suspension and chart a path for more restorative, healing-centered approaches. Recognizing the need to embrace the nuances of different situations, we invited youth to be active participants in these policy updates.