Racial Justice-Oriented Grantmaking: A Community-Driven Improvement Plan for Seattle’s Equitable Development Initiative Fund

Abstract

Purpose: People of color are disproportionately displaced from Seattle as the city rapidly gentrifies and its cost of living soars. The City of Seattle’s Equitable Development Initiative (EDI) Fund was created in partnership with community organizations to stop racialized displacement and create greater access to opportunity in Seattle’s communities of color. In its third funding cycle, the EDI Fund is working to improve its grantmaking, capacity building, and impact investing support. This document contains the design for the EDI Fund Process Improvement Plan that, once implemented, will aid City to staff better serve and support the work that Seattle’s communities of color are doing to thrive in place. Methods: The EDI Fund Process Improvement Plan is informed by a literature review of nearly 50 white paper reports authored by experts in racial justice-oriented grantmaking. The design of the process improvement plan data collection tools was informed by the findings from the literature review and recommendations from past EDI Fund applicants who did not receive funding. Data collection tools include a community survey and eight stakeholder focus groups to target specific racially equitable policy and programming alternatives. Findings: This report culminates recommendations for grantmaking, capacity building, and impact investing strategies, as well as overarching process, evaluation, and strategic planning recommendations that prioritize serving communities of color and racial justice work. These recommendations are specific to the current context and conditions of the EDI and EDI Fund. Second, the report includes a process improvement plan complete with data collection, implementation, and data analysis guidance and tools. Conclusion: The goal of the EDI Fund Process Improvement Plan is to provide specific and actionable steps for the EDI team to improve EDI Fund resources, programming, and policies to serve and support community organizations that serve people of color with their anti-displacement and access to opportunities work in Seattle. If the EDI team implements this process improvement plan, in partnership with the communities they are serving, the EDI Fund will undoubtedly improve its approach to racial-justice oriented grantmaking.