I still get moved every time I watch our video, “Together,” because of its amazing display of both the power of wisdom and the power of love. If you haven’t seen the video, click here. It speaks to what’s possible when we, as individuals and as a collective, both in the Puget Sound region and nationally, can embrace each other in love and gratitude for our shared humanity.

I’m reminded of the recent United Way Western Region Conference in Las Vegas, where I attended a plenary on diversity, equity, and inclusion, or what is commonly known as DEI. I thought the plenary speaker would talk about DEI from the common themes of race, ethnicity, and gender.

And though she appropriately touched on those topics, she also talked about diversity in terms of years of experience, i.e., that of Baby Boomers, millennials, Gen Zs, and Gen Xs. The reminded us that that was also a dynamic of leadership and service—the benefits and challenges that come with a very diverse workplace and community.

That was on my mind coming out of Las Vegas. Fast forward to a recent conversation with Seattle University president Eduardo Peñalver, who said the university, like others around the nation, is leveraging conversations around the war in Gaza. It demonstrates how we in our society should strive for another type of diversity—that of different viewpoints. We want to have environments where folks can have differences, maybe even have disagreements, but embrace our differences in a way that results in growth, learning, and civil discourse.

Currently, many pressures are preventing that—from social media to politics. Often, we don’t have the depth of relationships to overcome the pressures that tend to pull us apart. Some people are often more influenced by fear than by hope, more by othering than by seeing that we are a community rooted in humanity, called to serve and charged to root out and overcome identity-based oppressions.

That is why United Way’s Together video is so meaningful at this time. Kudos to United Way senior director of communication Jared Erlandson, who co-wrote and produced the piece along with Madeline Down of Doug Baldwin Jr’s company Vault 89 Ventures and the rest of the communications and production teams.

And a big thanks to Doug (pictured in the banner photo), the former Seahawks star who now serves on United Way of King County’s board. When I first became acquainted with him, I was struck by his candidly speaking about love and treating people without judgment. He has said that he always tries to understand people in their situation, the support they need, and what he can offer them. He gives me inspiration, and his words, the Together video, is a motivation for why we do the work we do.

We center our work on racial equity and stand against any form of identity-based oppression or hate. We do not embrace tolerance or acceptance but a sense of belonging where everyone feels seen, heard, loved, and appreciated based on who they are and their identities. That’s the reality. We need to find a way to stay grounded in our shared humanity and work toward supporting that collective.