Advocating For You and Our Neighbors.
Systemic barriers in education and healthcare among other systems sustain intergenerational poverty and create an ongoing need for assistance. But what if we targeted the root cause of why those needs are being created in the first place? At United Way of King County, we’re working side by side with communities to build an equitable future for everyone. Our advocacy efforts address immediate needs while also working to eliminate the underlying drivers of racial and economic inequities for future generations.
We work with coalitions, agencies, and advocacy partners of color to:
- Lend our United Way voice and advocate through our staff, executives, Board, and lobbyists in partnership with various issue-specific coalitions
- Fund people of color-led systems change agencies and those that want to advocate through community organizing, lobbying and everything in between
Interested in how we’re changing the systems to build an equitable future? Sign up now to get the monthly scoop.
Real People. Real Stories.
Communities of Color-Led Systems Change
Advocating for communities of color-led systems change is part of our approach to amplify and make permanent the impacts of our investments in programs and services. We invest funds in structural support for newly formed systems change organizations led by communities of color that bring their unique views to our region. We empower these communities to identify what they want to advocate for and then speak up.
Community Collaborations
Beyond our investments and policy work, United Way is at the tables across King County adding our voice to community informed strategies. From sitting on the King County Regional Homelessness Authority to our collaboration with the Black Home Initiative, we are actively engaged in influencing and advocating for effective solutions to realize equitable and just communities where all people thrive.
Public Policy
Just like United Way’s investments, our public policy work too focuses on immediate needs and long-term systems change. Public policy serves as one of the many instruments in our toolkit for driving systemic change, and we are committed to enhancing our approach by increasingly centering the leadership and perspectives of communities of color when determining our advocacy priorities.
How You Can Help
You’re helping us do good work. Energized to make even more change happen?
Learn: Learn about the needs and issues in our community.
Advocate: Tell your elected officials and candidates about critical needs in your community.
Volunteer: Take action with like minded people about the causes that matter to you.
Give: Give to help us build an equitable future for everyone. Every dollar counts.
For more information on our advocacy work, contact Colleen Laing at claing@uwkc.org.