Equity & Environment Initiative Council Report 2020

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SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Equity & Environment Initiative Council Report

2020

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Introduction Launched in 2015, Seattle's Equity & Environment Initiative (EEI) is a partnership of the City and the community to deepen Seattle's commitment to race and social justice in environmental work. In 2016, Seattle’s City Council passed Res. 31681, which established shared city and community goals and strategies of the Equity and Environment Agenda as City policy, underscoring the importance of this work as a critical foundation for all environment and sustainability work in Seattle. A component of this resolution includes an annual update from the Office of Sustainability and Environment (OSE) to share progress towards advancing environmental justice with Council. The Agenda serves as a roadmap for sectors to work together to advance environmental equity in Seattle. Key strategies include building community leadership through the Environmental Justice Committee (EJC), advancing environmental narrative and community leadership, providing grants to community-based organizations through the Environmental Justice Fund and the King Conservation District Community Partnership Grant Program, and coordinating the Duwamish Valley Program. With the advent of the Green New Deal for Seattle, the Initiative provides a firm foundation to imbed the principles of the EEI into our forthcoming climate work. Last year’s citywide prioritization of COVID-19 response efforts, the directive to pause hiring, and reconsiderations of budget and spending for 2020-2021 impacted our program. The pause in hiring led to a delay for three relevant positions: the Climate and Data Policy Manager, the Equity & Environment Manager, and the Green New Deal Advisor. In turn, this impacted timelines in launching the work outlined in Council Bill 119604 and Executive Order 2020-01. Additionally, we were unable to hire a student intern to support programmatic work for a 5-year progress report on work that has been done to advance equity and environmental justice since the release of the Agenda in 2015. OSE was also unable to hire consultants to facilitate technical assistance workshops for prospective applicants of the Environmental Justice Fund. However, EEI staff pivoted to respond to the challenges of the moment by supporting the EJC in

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identifying community priorities in response to COVID (see EJC section below) and made key staffing changes to support the future of climate justice and environmental equity work.

2020 Program Highlights STAFFING CHANGES Reimagining OSE’s Climate Director position, former OSE Director Jessica Finn Coven established a Climate Justice Director position, hiring Lylianna Allala for this role. Lylianna previously held the Equity and Environment Manager position. In this new role she leads an interdisciplinary team focused on systems change to center racial equity and social justice in Seattle’s environmental and climate programs and policies. She oversees OSE’s climate and environmental justice initiatives, which include the Equity and Environment Initiative & the Green New Deal for Seattle. She plays a leadership role in providing strategic vision for OSE’s climate work.

At the end of 2020, OSE hired Ani Krishnan, OSE’s former Buildings & Energy Advisor, as our new Climate Data & Policy Manager. In his new role, Ani oversees OSE’s climate data and reporting, which includes Seattle’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory. Ani is also providing strategic leadership in better centering equity-based approaches in using qualitative and quantitative data to track, evaluate &

visualize Seattle’s progress on our climate goals.

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DUWAMISH VALLEY PROGRAM A signature program of the Equity and Environment Initiative, the Duwamish Valley Program (DVP) was amongst the first recommendations actioned from the Equity and Environment Agenda. Following the Duwamish Valley Action Plan, the staff have worked collaboratively with community partners and City departments to coordinate and align existing and future investments to advance actions within the plan that lead with the priorities of Duwamish Valley residents and workers. The Duwamish Valley Program team worked with OH, OPCD, DON, and other City and community partners to identify and acquire (in 2021) a site in South Park for future development of affordable housing. During the pandemic, the DVP successfully redeployed their budget for COVID-19 relief and response to benefit:

• 34 displaced workers with utility payments, rental assistance, healthcare costs, back-to-school expenses, etc. Our focus population included undocumented individuals and families with mixed immigration status who were not eligible for federal stimulus benefits.

• 17 businesses with reopening/marketing technical assistance and 4 rounds of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

• 17 families with Emergency Grocery Vouchers. In 2020, the program secured $600,000 from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for climate change adaptation, community resilience, and anti-displacement work in the Duwamish Valley. A globally competitive grant, the DVP is 1 of only 6 awardees, and was awarded the maximum funding amount.

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Lastly, the DVP and Urban Forestry partnered in a community-based participatory research project using moss as a bioindicator for air pollution; the project team analyzed 100 samples to determine the concentrations of 27 different heavy metals and other pollutants in moss tissue. For a more comprehensive update of the DVP,

please refer to the 2020 DVP Progress Report.

Environmental Justice Grantmaking In 2020, OSE distributed a total of $941,000 through our annual grantmaking programs. OSE strives to remove institutional barriers that persist in government grantmaking through unique partnerships with The Bullitt Foundation and King Conservation District. 2021 marks the fourth year of the Environmental Justice (EJ) Fund. In 2021 we will be working with an independent evaluator to help assess measures of success and identify key performance indicators that we can track moving forward with this grant program. OSE and King Conservation District (KCD) continue our longstanding collaboration to advance the Equity and Environment Initiative through the KCD-Seattle Community Partnership Grant Program by investing in natural resource improvements that are led by or in deep partnership with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. In partnership with OSE, King Conservation District awarded $426,000 to six community-based organizations:

African Community Housing & Development

KCD-SEATTLE COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP GRANT

Duwamish Valley Youth Corps at the Moss Study Report Back

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Funding will support a new farmers market in the Delridge neighborhood, which is designated by the City of Seattle as a “Low Economic Opportunity/High Displacement Area.” The market will prioritize BIPOC vendors and feature culturally significant foods for the African community. They will leverage grant funding from other sources to purchase food at full price from farmers to provide free healthy food to food-insecure families. Black Star Farmers Black Star Farmers, in partnership with Black Farmers Collective, will revitalize the Walker St. Aquaponics Gardening Lab by incorporating stormwater management and infrastructure, sustainable environmental design elements, and renewable energy technologies to develop a renewable food system for the local First Hill, Rainier Valley, and south Beacon Hill communities. This project will include funding for a community member to serve as onsite management of the aquaponics and greenhouse system. Hip Hop is Green Funding will support ongoing youth efforts at the Cherry Street Farm, Lab & Culinary Project, a food security, food justice, health equity-oriented urban farm/teaching lab with greenhouse, onsite kitchen, and community gathering space. Through a STEM lens, paid BIPOC youth interns learn to be environmental stewards while building community through a hands-on, immersive experience in building a garden, taking Culinary Anthropology cooking classes, communing with nature, and growing and sharing food with people in need via food box distribution. iUrban Teen Students will learn about soil sampling and soil remediation at YES Farm (continuation of last year’s KCD grant) at Yesler Terrace (three cohorts – 24 students). Students will learn about Climate Change and GIS Mapping and use AI as tools to research solutions (two cohorts – 24 students). They will partner with GirlTrek and Outdoor Afro to create four educational nature hikes for teens focusing on watersheds and creek restoration (four hikes with 12 students each hike). Na’ah Ilahee Fund

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Na’ah Illahee Fund (NIF) will partner with United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, Seattle Parks and Recreation, and community members to restore surrounding land, waters, and gathering areas of Daybreak Star in Discovery Park. Through revitalizing land, plant life, preserving sacred foods and medicines, and addressing park maintenance for increased accessibility, they will create a space for cultural preservation, learning, and activities for our communities. Villa Comunitaria This food access and food security project in the South Park neighborhood is organized and implemented by resident farmers called Promotoras. Funding will support farm infrastructure, soil remediation, farming, CSA distribution, traditional medicine kit distribution and cooperative development costs of the Salsa De La Vida Project located at Marra Farm.

The Environmental Justice Fund awarded $515,000 to ten projects led by and benefiting communities most affected by environmental issues. Seattle’s Equitable Development Initiative, managed by the Office of Planning and Community Development, matched $250,000 to bring the total Fund to $515,000, the most-ever awarded to grantees. The Grantmaking Review Committee was comprised of five BIPOC community members who serve on the

Environmental Justice Committee. Members participated in the application review, attended virtual presentations led by applicants, and submitted funding recommendations to the Mayor’s Office. 2020 Grantees include: Black Farmers Collective, $60,000

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE FUND

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This proposal will expand organizational capacity and provide watering infrastructure at Yes Farm – a community garden, farmer co-op, and community gathering space – that will expand their capacity to grow food and sustain crops that feed their community. Chief Seattle Club, $60,000 Sovereignty Farm connects homeless American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) Apprentices to green jobs and is linked to the Good Medicine Café – a Traditional Foods Café in Pioneer Square. This proposal supports farming activities as part of their workforce development program. Good Medicine Café will open in October 2021 featuring a Traditional Foods menu with produce harvested from Sovereignty Farm and ingredients sourced from local tribes and Native Farmers. The Café, a social enterprise staffed by homeless AI/AN apprentices, will educate patrons about indigenous foods and host a monthly Indigenous Farmer's Market. East African Senior Meal Program (EASMP), $60,000 This Environmental Justice Urban Farming project will resume and expand the East African Senior Meal Program at the Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands, which has been on hold due to COVID-19. This program serves East African seniors through weekly opportunities to grow food using regenerative practices, care for the wetlands adjacent to Lake Washington, share a healthy community meal, access culturally appropriate foods, and access educational and civic engagement opportunities. FEEST, $32,700 FEEST will provide living wage stipends for youth leading critical school food work in Seattle Public Schools. Youth will lead solutions at the intersection of health and well-being to address emergency school food response, housing, policing, and coordination with school food partners. FEEST will convene community forums to bring together youth leaders, direct service organizations, community partners, and school food decision-makers to directly address the gaps in food access for low-income youth of color and bring forward youth-driven solutions. This funding supports capacity building support to build infrastructure to develop effective digital organizing strategy because of COVID-19 restrictions.

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Got Green, $60,000 This project supports engagement efforts that contribute to community-led climate resilience planning and educational workshops at the intersection of climate justice, health, displacement, and emergency. Got Green’s work will inform their goal of establishing a resilience network that Black, Indigenous, and communities of color can connect with in a climate emergency. Hmong Association of Washington, $40,000 The proposal will directly address the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Hmong farmers through their “Hmong Vegetable Farmers Visibility” Project. This intergenerational project will connect Hmong farmers with Hmong youth to share traditional farming knowledge through storytelling and virtual programming. Lake City Collective, $60,000 This project seeks to empower the community in the Little Brook neighborhood by gathering data on various environmental justice and sustainability (environmental, social, and economic) factors in the area, making this information easily accessible to the community, and creating an Environmental Justice Action Plan through a community-led visioning process to improve social and environmental conditions in Little Brook. The Doorway Project, $22,300 This proposal will launch Bloom, a new place-based educational internship aimed at developing critical consciousness around food justice and homelessness. An existing youth-led garden at the University District Youth Center is the entryway for this internship that will bring together a cohort of young adults experiencing homelessness and community members to learn about food systems, social justice, and community organizing through a climate justice framework. Unkitawa, $60,000

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Through Unkitawa’s Indigenous Wellness Program, this proposal aligns food and medicines sovereignty goals. In partnership with the Duwamish Tribe, the Duwamish Longhouse Medicine Garden will be a hub of traditional medicines and knowledge that will serve as a space to gather and share resources, including educational materials developed through an ecological and Indigenous lens. This project will also include a home-based garden component to connect community to gardening practices that center an Indigenous lens. Villa Comunitaria, $60,000 This project will support ongoing food production through the Salsa de la Vida program located at Marra Farm through soil remediation and building on the Community Supported Agriculture pilot launched in 2020. In response to COVID-19, production and distribution of traditional herbs will be increased to meet the needs of the Latinx communities in South Park and Seattle via Traditional Medicine Home Kits. In 2020, the funding cycle concluded for the following five projects that were part of the inaugural cohort in 2018 for the Environmental Justice Fund: FEEST A youth leadership program that includes a youth-run dinner that brings together 50-60 youth once a week to cook an improvised dinner using fresh vegetables and inspirations from family traditions and to lead each other in a series of activities and conversations focused on culture and food justice. Na’ah Illahee Fund A program of climate and environmentally focused activities emerging out of their Yahowt Just Transition listening sessions. Activities promoted climate resiliency and focused on permaculture, food sovereignty, just transition, and the arts. RVC (Rooted in Vibrant Communities) A partnership between Rainier Valley Corps and Got Green to address the lack of diversity in the environmental movement by developing a pipeline of emerging leaders of color with a racial equity and intersectional lens. The Green Pathways Fellowship

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Program recruited fellows of color placed in pairs to work full-time at environmental organizations. Somali Health Board A culturally responsive, student-directed learning experience for Somali youth focused on environmental health. Activities included educational workshops about environmental health, opportunities to learn to advocate for environmental justice, and community volunteerism that exposed children to concepts of environmental preservation. Y-WE (Young Women Empowered) The Y-WE Nature Connections program supported young women in engaging in environmental learning and becoming environmental stewards while having empowering experiences of being active in the natural world. Components included a youth-led Environmental Leadership Council; mentoring; youth-led food workshops, presentations, and healthy meals generated by Y-WE; and STEM learning in real-world context through urban farming and habitat protection activities.

Y-WE youth attend Parks and Great Outdoors Legislative Day

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Environmental Justice Committee As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, staff worked closely with the Environmental Justice Committee (EJC) to respond nimbly to unprecedented times and listen to community-identified priorities in a time of crisis. As a result, the EJC published the Community Conversation Report, which serves as a resource that can inform the City of Seattle’s response to the pandemic and subsequent actions in a long-term recovery. OSE has made a commitment to update the committee throughout 2021, 2022, and beyond on City actions taken to advance these priorities.

Key community-identified priorities include: • Reducing application barriers for basic needs • Support for small businesses through financial assistance and direct engagement • Internet for all, including access to reliable internet and increasing the number

of locations where free internet is available • Engagement with Tribes, including direct consultation with and investment in

relationships with Tribal Nations In 2020, we onboarded seven committee new members to serve two-year terms:

• Dana Wu (she/her/they/them) Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition board member and community advocate for the queer community, immigrants, and refugees

EJC Members at their annual retreat.

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• Edwin Wanji (he/him) owner of Sphere Solar Energy, renewable energy, and workforce development advocate

• Jaimeé Marsh (they/them) Executive Director of FEEST

• José Chi Bertoni (he/him) Multicultural Outreach Manager at ECOSS (Environmental Coalition of South Seattle)

• Joshua Jenkins (he/him) member of Yes Farm, a Black-led urban farm in Yesler Terrace

• Pah-tu Pitt (she/her, Warm Springs and Wasco) advocate for Indigenous climate change resiliency

• Ruby Stacey (she/her/they/them, Quileute) advocate for sustainable self-determination of Native people

In addition to increasing capacity on the board, the Environmental Justice Committee submitted a comment letter to the Washington State Department of Ecology on Washington’s Regional Haze State Implementation Plan, which has local impacts given two of the 20 biggest regional haze producing facilities in the state are in the Duwamish Valley.

Looking Forward 2021 holds exciting opportunities for the Equity and Environment Initiative as we continue to align OSE’s climate work with the values and goals of the Equity and Environment Agenda.

EJC Member Dana Wu prepares to lead committee members on an environmental education day with a socially distanced guided walk to view salmon and discuss conservation efforts.

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In the Spring of 2021, OSE onboarded Lisa Chen as our new Equity and Environment Manager and José Vasquez as our Green New Deal Advisor. Lisa

manages the programs that make up the Equity and Environment Initiative and provides critical strategic leadership on the development of the Green New Deal for Seattle. José is our staff liaison to the Green New Deal Oversight Board, supports coordination efforts at OSE on workforce development, and provides strategic leadership on the development of the Green New Deal for Seattle. The Green New Deal for Seattle presents an opportunity for Seattle to collaborate across departments, across sectors, and with communities to build upon the foundation of the Equity and Environment Initiative by actioning a Green New Deal for Seattle, which seeks to boldly eliminate climate pollution through an equitable and just transition away from fossil fuels to a renewable, clean energy economy prioritizing investments in communities who have been disproportionately impacted by racial, economic and environmental injustices. Staff have worked fastidiously to onboard new members to the Green New Deal Oversight Board with a goal of scheduling their first official meeting in September. In 2021, we onboarded seven new members to the Environmental Justice Committee to serve two-year terms. Currently, the Environmental Justice Committee is working on projects in partnership with OSE, SPU, and other departments with a focus of food justice and equitable access to green jobs. Thanks to the recommendations of Mayor Durkan’s Equitable Communities Initiative Task Force and City Council’s legislative approval, we will be adding $500,000 to the Environmental Justice Fund, granting $750,000 to support efforts that are led by and for the people most affected by environmental and climate inequities: Black, Indigenous, People of Color, immigrants, refugees, people with low incomes, youth,

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and elders. The application for this grant funding is currently open (through 4 p.m. on September 13). We look forward to briefing you on our 2021 accomplishments in 2022!