Advocating for Equity Statewide

Investing in Black-led Organizations

Black leaders share the truth of their experiences guiding community organizations in this new report, The Case for Investing in King County’s Black-led Organizations. Based on interviews and surveys, the report lifts up the many strengths of Black-led organizations, as well as highlights barriers to funding opportunities that have led to significant under-investment in the Black community. The report is a call to do better, with recommendations for taking a culturally centered approach to philanthropy.

Building Community

As an anchor community partner in developing affordable housing and supporting minority businesses in the Central District, we work with other organizations to build a future in which African Americans and low-income residents can stay and thrive in the city center.

Our focus includes supporting the creation of land trusts geared toward people of color in order to preserve affordable housing, mitigate gentrification and build community wealth. The Liberty Bank Building at 24^th and Union, which opened in 2019, is one tangible example of this work. A collaboration of Byrd Barr Place, Africatown, Black Community Impact Alliance and Capitol Hill Housing, the redevelopment project sets a new standard for community-led investment in the Central District.

Advancing Racial Equity

Aiming to spur public dialogue and generate community-driven policy solutions, Byrd Barr Place in collaboration with other Black organizations, has published a series of reports:

• Black Well-being: Moving Toward Solutions Together (2022), produced by the Black Future Co-op Fund, updates data from the 2015 report and expands on it, with community identified approaches to manifest Black well-being statewide.
• And So We Press On: A Community View on African American Health in Washington State (2019) continues the dialogue about experiences of health and well-being.
• Voices Rising: African American Economic Security in King County (2017) delves deeper into economic security issues.
• Creating an Equitable Future in Washington State (2015) focuses on economic, political and social barriers to progress for Black Washingtonians.

To address the challenges identified in these reports, Byrd Barr Place is working with community members and partners to:

• Identify innovative social service models across the country and apply best practices to our own services.
• Engage the community in developing a unified African American agenda to realize our collective goals.
• Support the creation of a land trust as a legal tool to combat gentrification and the loss of place for African Americans in Seattle and King County.