
RSJ ROUNDTABLE
The Race and Social Justice Community Roundtable is a partnership of twenty-five community organizations and public institutions working together to achieve racial equity in Seattle.
Roundtable members are committed to achieving racial equity throughout Seattle via coordinated actions. Members also are working to address institutional racism within their own organizations.
PDF of RSJ Community Roundtable - SummaryMember list: RSJ Community Roundtable
| Arab American Community Coalition | Damon Shadid |
| Center for East African Community Affairs | Habtamu Abdi, Director |
| Childcare Resources | Deeann Puffert, Director |
| City of Seattle | Julie Nelson, Seattle Office for Civil Rights Director |
| El Centro De La Raza | Estela Ortega, Director |
| Horn of Africa | Tsegaye Gebru, Director |
| King County | Matias Valenzuela |
| Minority Executive Directors’ Coalition | Dorry Elias-Garcia, Director |
| Seattle King County NAACP | James Bible, Director |
| Nonprofit Assistance Center | Barbara Fane, Director |
| One America | Rich Stolz, Director |
| People’s Institute NW | Sarah Freeman |
| Pride Foundation | Kris Hermanns, Director |
| Puget Sound Educational Service District | John Welch, Director |
| Seattle City Council | Bruce Harrell, Councilmember |
| Seattle Education Association | Jonathan Knapp, President |
| Seattle Housing Authority | Andrew Lofton, Director |
| Seattle Indian Health Board | Ralph Forquera, Director |
| Seattle Public Schools | Jose Banda, Superintendent |
| Seattle University, Center for the Study of Justice in Society | Pam Taylor, Director |
| Senior Services | Denise Klein, Director |
| Social Justice Fund | Zeke Spier, Director |
| Solid Ground | Gordon McHenry, Director |
| United Indians of All Tribes | Kelvin Frank, Director |
| United Way of King County | Sara Levin, Community Services VP |
| Washington Community Action Network | Will Pittz, Director |
| YMCA | Robert Gilbertson Jr., Director |
| Youth Undoing Institutional Racism | Dustin Washington |
| YWCA | Patricia Hayden, Senior Program Director |
Education is primary focus
The Roundtable has made education its primary focus as a step to achieve its overall goal. Graduation rates, rates of discipline, test scores and other measures illustrate a clear racial divide in education.
Typical explanations usually focus on the capacity of individual teachers, students, the curriculum, etc. Yet systemic race-based inequities sort and shape students in ways that are obvious to families of color, but often invisible to white families. Without referencing race, we can “explain” everything that happens in our schools. Yet those explanations fail to account for the undeniable racial fault line that runs through our education system. Unless we begin to address institutional racism, our educational outcomes will remain the same.
Besides focusing on education, the City and other Roundtable members are analyzing the connections between education and criminal justice, economics, environmental justice and health.
Key RSJI Docs in PDF
Upcoming Events
A workshop on achieving racial equity in school discipline.Saturday, June 1
9:00 AM -12:00 PM
more
Video
RSJI: Working for Racial Equity
in City Government
A video highlighting the work of the Race and Social Justice Initiative (RSJI) featuring the voices of RSJ Community Roundtable members, Mayor Mike McGinn, City employees and RSJI staff on why the work to eliminate racial disparities is critical and how we are working together as government and community to achieve racial equity.
RSJI Information in Translation/English:
| Amharic | Cambodian |
| Chinese | Korean |
| Oromo | Somali |
| Spanish | Tagalog |
| Tigrigna | Vietnamese |
Other RSJI Documents
- Mayor's Executive Order 4/23/10: Outreach to Women and Minority Owned Businesses Mayor McGinn issued Executive Order 2010-5 on April 23, 2010 concerning outreach to women and minority businesses. The Order strengthens the City's commitment utilize women and minority owned businesses, and outlines steps for departments to ensure Citywide accountability.
- City Council Resolution Directing Race and Social Justice Work to Continue
- Full text of the Council's Resolution #31164
- Report 2008: Looking Back, Moving Forward [long report]
- 2008 RSJI Overview (executive summary)
