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April 17, 2019
Seattle Business Magazine
Kris Hermanns says leaders must learn to make good decisions in an ambiguous world. The Seattle Foundation executive believes it’s important to recognize that ‘individuals and groups may have different truths.’
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April 01, 2019
KUOW
One year until the 2020 Census, Seattle leaders are working to get people counted who historically have not been: immigrants, LGBTQ people, homeless individuals, and people of color, who are often under-counted in censuses. Monday, local officials announced they're giving one million dollars to community groups to do outreach in order to encourage people from those groups to fill out next year's survey.
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April 01, 2019
The Seattle Times
Seattle, King County and the Seattle Foundation will together award $1 million in funding this summer to community organizations for outreach, Locke said. The tally will help determine how much federal funding the state receives and whether the Seattle area is awarded an additional member of Congress.
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April 01, 2019
Seattle Channel
King County Executive Dow Constantine, Seattle Mayor Jenny A. Durkan, and Seattle Foundation President and CEO Tony Mestres announce a Regional Census Fund to help community-based organizations prepare for the United States 2020 Census, which will be conducted one year from now: April 1, 2020.
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March 31, 2019
The Seattle Times
We’re one year away from the nationwide start of Census 2020, and we have only one chance to get it right. This legislative session, lawmakers have a once-in-a-decade opportunity to ensure an accurate count of Washington communities, by fully funding the people and infrastructure for a robust and accurate Census 2020 count.
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March 13, 2019
Seattle Channel
This video showcasing the Waterfront Park Thought Forum (presented by Laird Norton Wealth Management) shares the economic, cultural and equity benefits of the 26-block public-private park. Seattle Foundation President & CEO Tony Mestres participated in a panel discussion and announced the Foundation's $500,000 commitment to support vibrant, equitable programming for all in the park.
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February 15, 2019
Giving Compass
In this podcast, Seattle Foundation President & CEO Tony Mestres talks with Paul Shoemaker, founding president of Social Venture Partners, about the history and role of community foundations. Mestres also shares his thoughts on leadership and philanthropy gaps and tackling complex social issues like homelessness.
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February 07, 2019
International Examiner
Totem Star, along with three other Asian Pacific Islander American-serving or Asian Pacific Islander American-led outfits like the Wing Luke Museum, 21 Progress, and the International Capoeira Angola Foundation (ICAF Seattle), are among a total of 14 groups to receive funding from the Seattle Foundation’s pilot initiative, the Creative Equity Fund. The fund, launched in 2018, awarded $200,000 in grant money to those using arts and culture as a strategy to address structural racism.
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January 03, 2019
The Seattle Times
In Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS), Tuyet Nguyen found a place to teach ...
She’s recently taken on another subject: getting other immigrant voters involved in the election process. Nguyen is one of several volunteers who help propel ACRS’ grass-roots voter-engagement program, which aims to get Washington immigrants and residents of Asian and Pacific Islander descent more involved in civic life.
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December 14, 2018
The Seattle Times
We’ve all heard about the many accolades Greater Seattle has earned in recent years. We rank high on lists of Best Places to Live, Fittest Cities, Best Cities to Find a Job and Most Caring Cities. However, we are not one of the most generous cities in the nation, despite a common perception that we are. It’s time to bust that myth.
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November 15, 2018
The Seattle Times
It all starts with choosing the agencies who will receive the donations ...The agencies are vetted every two years by The Seattle Foundation, which manages donations of about 1,200 family, individual and corporate philanthropies in the region, according to Mary Grace Roske, the Seattle Foundation’s chief brand officer.
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November 03, 2018
The Seattle Times
Seattle’s southern region, just below the I-90 interchange, has the highest percentage of residents making under $25,000 as well as the city’s highest concentration of African Americans, Asians, Latinos and other people of color. Studies show less-affluent people and people of color around the country disproportionately decline to vote. The income pattern holds in South Seattle, where voter turnout is higher and more in line with city averages the closer you move to expensive Lake Washington waterfront property.
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November 02, 2018
Nonprofit Quarterly
The midterm elections will soon be upon us. In many states, citizens will vote not just for federal and state officials, but also on ballot initiatives. Nationally, there are 155 statewide measures in 37 states...Some nonprofits and foundations appear to have taken this message to heart. For example, for only the second time since its founding in 1946, the Seattle Foundation announced on October 22nd it was endorsing Initiative 1631, which would place a fee on carbon emissions to reduce fossil fuel use and finance renewable energy investment. In its statement, the foundation explained that support for the initiative was consistent with their climate justice impact strategy.
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October 25, 2018
Seattle Business Magazine
Seattle Foundation is one of the largest community foundations in the United States and manages more than $1 billion in assets. In 2017, the foundation invested nearly $100 million in grants across the spectrum of community needs.
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October 18, 2018
The Seattle Times
So far this year, the state has seen 258,219 voters register. King County registration jumped by nearly half — from 61,191 in 2014 to 91,239 new voters through the past 12 months ... The county and the Seattle Foundation use the fund to provide grants between $10,000 to $25,000 to 33 community-based organizations to get people registered and to familiarize voters with candidates and issues on the ballot.
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October 08, 2018
Youth Giving
Last year, I applied to join Seattle Foundation’s Youth Grantmaking Board (YGB) because I wanted to make a difference in my community and give back the way my mother and grandmother do. While I was familiar with the idea of helping one’s community, philanthropy was a foreign concept to me.
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October 04, 2018
The Seattle Times
Pearl Jam’s Home Shows, an initiative aimed at bringing the community together to fight homelessness, has raised $10.8 million, which will be distributed to nearly 100 area organizations in the coming months.
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October 02, 2018
GeekWire
There’s no denying that Seattle has a homelessness crisis. Even as economic conditions in the area improve, some Seattleites are being left behind amid skyrocketing rents and other affordability challenges ... That’s why GeekWire and Bank of America have teamed up with the Seattle Foundation for our 2018 Geeks Give Back Campaign, focusing on impactful support for families and individuals affected by homelessness in the region.
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September 10, 2018
Washington Monthly
Seattle Foundation President and CEO Tony Mestres writes in the Washington Monthly about partnering with the Seattle Seahawks to support young people of color through promising programs that tackle inequities.
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June 06, 2018
The Seattle Times
One of South Lake Union’s newest restaurants is one you can’t go to — it’s inside The Collective, a new private club custom-concepted for New Seattle, including a climbing wall and a device-free hammock zone...The Collective is also building a “social impact fund” — from some retail proceeds, proceeds from specific events, and sale of art by the artist in residence — and members will vote on how the money is used. To this end, a monthly happy hour in conjunction with the Seattle Foundation and one of the club’s brewery partners will “celebrate an emerging and an established nonprofit.”
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June 04, 2018
Crosscut
Incomes for single mother-led households are flat or falling as other families see gains. The statistics were pulled from the U.S. Census Bureau and organized through a public-private partnership with local governments, the United Way and the Seattle Foundation. The resulting information, presented on a slick website, is called Communities Count.
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May 22, 2018
Puget Sound Business Journal
Corporations have eagerly lent unused premises and buildings slated for demolition to be used by Mary’s Place and wholeheartedly backed causes like No Child Sleeps Outside. The campaign raised $2.5 million with more than 70 corporations jumping on board, Marty Hartman, executive director of Mary’s Place, said... “The number of our fellow residents who are falling into the canyons on inequity is both not acceptable for us from a pure human and compassionate perspective,” said Tony Mestres, president and CEO of Seattle Foundation and a former Microsoft executive. “But to be clear, it is not acceptable because it is not sustainable as a society.”
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May 07, 2018
The Seattle Times
The Metropolitan King County Council on Monday passed a measure to fund prepaid postage on mail-in ballots for this year’s elections...Election officials have been trying to make it easier for people to vote since the county adopted mail-ballot voting in 2009. Ballots in King County are provided in Korean, Spanish, Vietnamese and Chinese. The county has partnered with Seattle Foundation to educate voters and increase turnout.
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May 04, 2018
The Seattle Times
CELEBRATE Seattle’s community spirit and donate generously during Wednesday’s Give Big campaign. The Seattle Foundation project hopes to mark its final Give Big day by surpassing $100 million in total donations since 2011 to more than 1,600 King County nonprofits.
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April 13, 2018
The Chronicle of Philanthropy
With congressional and state elections heating up, grant makers are focusing on new ways to help connect the people they serve to the political process — and ultimately lead more of them to the ballot box. Those efforts were in the spotlight at a conference held here this week by the Council on Foundations, which drew more than 200 grant makers from across the country. The Seattle Foundation is working with King County’s election department to award $400,000 in grants to promote voting among people who might feel left out – such as those who are not fluent in English.
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February 07, 2018
Puget Sound Business Journal
Two of Seattle's leading venture capitalists have invested in an audacious plan by nonprofit Forterra to help immigrants buy a large property in Tukwila, where an international market will house dozens of small businesses facing displacement ... Funding will come from Forterra's new Strong Communities Fund, a social impact investment vehicle that venture capitalists Nick Hanauer and Tom Alberg have invested in along with others, including the Russell Family Foundation, credit union BECU, the Seattle Foundation and the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties.
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February 07, 2018
The Wall Street Journal
Rising wealth from Seattle’s technology boom changed the face of a neighborhood that used to be the black community’s historic core. Now, tech wealth is joining efforts to push back against gentrification … Venture capitalist Nick Hanauer, another early Amazon investor with an interest in social activism, also invested in the fund. Others include the Seattle Foundation, one of the biggest community foundations, and a regional builders association.