United Way of King County

A Word from Our Leadership

The acts of racism and recent murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and so many other black people stand in total opposition to the just and equitable community we work toward every day at United Way.

We share the rage felt throughout the community.

This rage is not the result of one week’s injustices—or even one generation’s. These injustices come on the heels of five hundred years of oppression. From the genocidal treatment of indigenous people, the slavery of Africans to building this country on the backs of black and brown and Asian people, these injustices are persistent.

It’s time we replace the anger, fear and despair felt for generations. At United Way, we envision a different tomorrow. We are committed to building an equitable, resilient and just society. One where people of color live lives of opportunity and are thriving. One where they leave a legacy of joy, pride, and wealth, rather than a legacy of historic race-based trauma.

Our Mission

We bring caring people together to give, volunteer and take action to help people in need and solve our community’s toughest challenges.

Racial Equity Matters

Because of institutional and systemic racism, people of color disproportionately experience inequities in our community.

This looks like overrepresentation in homelessness populations—the number of people of color experiencing homelessness is higher than it should be given the general population. This looks like students of color being disciplined more, graded lower and having fewer role models in the classroom than their white peers. This looks like more families of color experiencing poverty than white families.

Race-based inequities are driven by past and present racism and it is imperative that we recognize, acknowledge and address racism in order to make progress towards a community with equal opportunity for all—where people have homes, students graduate and families are financially stable.

At United Way, we’re addressing racial inequities head on. We know that with our funding and policy-making influence—and donor support—we can change racial inequities in King County. Read about our racial equity work here.