Inherent in our True North – making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive – is our collective work and accountability as government to advance equity, racial and social justice. On the ancestral lands of the Muckleshoot, Snoqualmie, Puyallup, Tulalip, and Suquamish Tribes, and the Duwamish people, it is the responsibility we have taken on to truly honor and continue the work of our county’s namesake, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  

King County is a prosperous and resilient region for many communities who live here. Our region benefits tremendously from the generations of Native people on whose land we currently live, and who today continue to fight for their rights, and to protect and promote their culture, language, customs, and values – and their future. We are a stronger community because of our growing diversity of all kinds.

Yet, the brutal reality of racism and bias throughout our society and institutions continue to harm and hold back Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) nationally, and in different ways, all people in Washington State, and in King County. BIPOC people experience disproportionately worse outcomes in our community: health, access to housing and good paying jobs, educational attainment, income, incarceration rates, and more. That is why we are deliberate, urgent and steadfast in our commitment to become an anti-racist and pro-equity government.

In order to address this deep rooted societal sickness, as one important step towards what our namesake called ‘the beloved community’, we have declared racism as a public health crisis, and identified a “down payment” of budget and policy investments that among other things, begins to transform the criminal legal system.  This down payment also funds ongoing work to become truly pro-equity, anti-racist and accountable to historically marginalized people including Black, Brown, and Indigenous People of Color, with a deliberate focus on Black and Indigenous people, children, and families.

Our work to center equity and become pro-equity, continues through our Strategic Plan for Equity and Social Justice (ESJ), co-created with employees and community partners. The Plan is a blueprint for action and change that guides our pro-equity policy direction, our decision-making, planning, operations and services, and our workplace practices to advance equity and social justice within County government and in partnership with communities:

• We are applying a theory of change that fundamentally shifts the county away from policies and practices that react to problems and crises toward investments that address root causes.
• We are balancing a bold vision with actionable and measurable objectives.
• We are creating space for innovation and adaptability across our government to help us be more dynamic, culturally responsive, and racially just.

Our strategies as One King County are to invest upstream and where needs are greatest—in employees and community partnerships. We will do this with accountable and transparent leadership.