Since the end of the 2023 Legislative Session, we’ve shifted our energy away from policy advocacy and towards listening to our statewide community about the experience of living on a low income in our state and envisioning a more just future in Washington. |
At Poverty Action, we believe that low-income communities and communities of color inherently have the expertise and experience needed to identify and lead solutions to the problems impacting them. Our work both starts and is carried out in partnership with Washingtonians living on low incomes, and it all starts with our semi-annual Listening Sessions.
Semi-annually, our staff and board members travel to towns and communities across the state to hear directly from low-income Washingtonians about the issues most impacting them. The primary goal of Listening Sessions is to build relationships and trust with low-income Washingtonians across the state so that we can elevate their voices during the legislative session and beyond. Additionally, the issues we work on during legislative session are directly influenced by the conversations, feedback, and experiences that we hear from people with low incomes and communities of color throughout Washington.
Last week, we hosted our first Listening Session of the year with our partners at Neighborhood House in High Point and had a great conversation about issues impacting their community and facilitated a productive discussion with lawmakers. We are so grateful to Neighborhood house for hosting us and helping facilitate such a great event, and are so excited to move forward with our future sessions with partner organizations across the state! |
In 2022 and 2023, the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) partnered with Front and Centered, Statewide Poverty Action Network, People’s Economy Lab to envision how Washington should advance equity in the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. This group started the Just Futures project.
To do this, the Just Futures partners brought together a Community Leadership Committee of frontline community members directly impacted by poverty to design the Cornerstones of Collaborative Governance for a Just & Equitable Future. This framework for economic recovery is rooted in democracy, self-determination, sustainability, and equity towards shared economic well-being for all Washingtonians.
This framework for collaborative government is the means by which we ask lawmakers in Washington to join us in centering the voices of those impacted by poverty in policymaking, program development, and building a more Just Future in our state. |
