News Release
King County Office of Equity, Racial and Social Justice
King County, in partnership with The Gathering Collaborative, began accepting applications for $25 million worth of grants for community-led organizations, non-profits, groups, or businesses that are dismantling systemic racism, working to undo its harms, and addressing racism as a public health crisis.
Building on previous work to advance equity, racial, and social justice for all people, King County Executive Dow Constantine and Public Health-Seattle and King County declared racism as a public health crisis in 2020, and committed to centering Black and Indigenous communities in developing solutions that aim to repair the harm and bring healing and well-being.
In March of 2022, The Gathering Collaborative, a group of diverse community members, along with co-chairs Abigail Echo-Hawk, Dr. Ben Danielson, and Executive Dow Constantine, formed to uplift Black and Indigenous people and their communities. The Gathering Collaborative is a community co-creation effort with a main goal to determine how to equitably distribute $25 million to advance economic and racial justice through a grantmaking process.
The Gathering Collaborative and King County government have jointly prioritized these investments to make meaningful progress to address the harms of racism on Black and Indigenous communities who, based on extensive research and data nationally and in King County, most negatively experience the generational, current, and longstanding impacts of racism, making it a public health crisis.
The grant application portal is now open and includes the following grant categories: General grants for community service providers; capacity building grants for small, grassroots community service providers; small business grants; and physical infrastructure grants.
More information on the grant categories and Gathering Collaborative funding priorities can be found on the application portal and on our website at bit.ly/gatheringcollaborative.
“The deepest wells of harm from racism, both historically and currently, are borne by Black and Indigenous communities,” said Dr. Ben Danielson, Co-Chair of Racism is a Public Health Crisis. “These communities have had the opportunity to sculpt this grant effort, creating an approach for getting resources to those most negatively impacted by racism, and building some enduring anti-racist approaches into the process of governance. This holds promise for affording universal benefit to all who have experienced injustice and harm.”
“Communities directly impacted by this country’s Indigenous erasure and anti-blackness know what they need best to prosper and thrive. The Gathering Collaborative shifted the power to Indigenous and Black communities to lead the way on interrupting and repairing the harms of ongoing racism and determining the best community-centered solutions for building wellness in the communities they represent and serve,” said Abigail Echo-Hawk, Co-Chair of Racism is a Public Health Crisis.
“King County government has a responsibility to confront the truth of racism and the ongoing and historical harms that it has caused. Committing this $25 million to drive transformational change intentionally and urgently takes on the public health crisis that is racism, particularly in Black and Indigenous communities,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine, Co-Chair of Racism is a Public Health Crisis. “By focusing where needs are greatest, we can create equitable opportunities for every person in King County to thrive.”
The Gathering Collaborative encourages those interested in applying for the grants to attend the following informational session:
Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023 // noon to 1:30 PM
Hybrid session: attend in person in Tukwila or virtually via Zoom
Register for in-person attendance (Maximum 50 spots; Location of event will be given upon registration)
Register for virtual attendance via Zoom
