Senior Director of the WA Economic Justice Alliance
Four years ago, hundreds of Washingtonians came together to create the 10-Year Plan to Dismantle Poverty. Washingtonians living on a poverty income guided the development of the plan, urging decision-makers to take action on eight common sense strategies to improve economic well-being for all.
Since then, the alliance of people with lived experience, community organizations, tribes, state agencies and legislators has already taken hundreds of actions to implement the 10-Year Plan, with impressive results: poverty has declined in 31 of Washington’s 39 counties.
The early success of the Alliance is based on a simple truth: the sum of us is greater than any one of us. When we work together, powerful progress can be made.
And much work remains. While the recent decline in poverty is welcome news, hardworking Washingtonians throughout the state are having a difficult time keeping up with high cost-of-living and a dearth of family wage jobs. The stakes are high: economic conditions that allow children and families to thrive are foundational to the long-term well-being of our communities and economy.
The 10-Year Plan is a blueprint for an economy that works for all of us. If you believe in the power of all(iance), read our 3-Year Impact Report to learn about how we’re working together to become a state of well-being.
Watch Jennifer Bereskin Seamonster talk about yəhaw̓, how we are pushing forward together.