City of Seattle’s Race and Social Justice Initiative releases new Racial Equity Research and City Actions websites
The Race and Social Justice Initiative (RSJI) at the City of Seattle launched new websites with in-depth information and data about racial equity issues in the Seattle area, as well as a database of actions the City is taking toward racial equity.
Seattle’s Innovation Advisory Council sponsored the project after community feedback that called for more transparent race and social justice data, as well as better coordination between City departments.
In response, the Seattle Office for Civil Rights (SOCR) conceptualized web resources that improve access to government racial equity data, identify root causes of inequities, and mobilize collaborations across City departments and community groups.
The Racial Equity Research portal now includes six topic pages: Poverty, Racial Demographics, Food Insecurity, Health Disparities, Community Wealth, and Housing Affordability. More will be added in the future.
Each topic page includes:
- Background information about a racial equity issue
- An interactive data dashboard
- An interactive chart showing the root causes of an issue
- Community stories
- Links to some of the many community organizations who are advancing the work in Seattle
In tandem with the portal, RSJI also published a searchable City Racial Equity Actions database. Every year, City of Seattle departments create Racial Equity Plans to ensure that their work centers people most impacted by racism and other forms of oppression.
The new database allows users to view summaries of Racial Equity Plans, with information about strategies and projected outcomes. The database is a major step forward in making the City’s racial equity work more transparent for the Seattle community and making it easier for departments to collaborate.
Development of the Racial Equity Research site was led by the Race and Social Justice Initiative, the Seattle IT Digital Engagement Team, and the Seattle IT Digital Workflows team.
Visit the Racial Equity Research portal to explore topic pages, and visit the City Racial Equity Actions page to search the database.
Contact Jason Eastman, RSJI Communications & Operations Coordinator, with questions.
