Our Racial Equity Commitment — Seattle Neighborhood Greenways

Our Racial Equity Commitment

Seattle Neighborhood Greenways embraces the powerful idea that mobility — the ability to get to the goods, services, and opportunities of daily life, safely, comfortably, affordably — is a basic human right.  Yet we know that access to safe, healthy mobility is not equally shared in Seattle. Quite the contrary. In so many aspects of people’s daily life here — where we can afford to live, our ability to own or drive a private vehicle, how far we need to travel to get to work or to the nearest grocery store, how safe we are when walking, rolling, or crossing the street, and how we are viewed by police officers on our streets — race and racism play a huge role in determining our ability to get to where we need to go.

Seattle has a long-standing history of discrimination and prejudice against people of color. We recognize the interconnected nature of overlapping systems of oppression and discrimination.

Seattle Neighborhood Greenways is dedicated to a vision in which every neighborhood in Seattle is a great place to walk, bike and live. Great places reflect the needs of all people, and lift up their values and culture. They are co-created by people of every age, language, race, ethnicity, gender, and ability. Achieving this vision requires changing the underlying systems that create race-based disparities in our city and starts with creating a movement that welcomes, supports, uplifts, and celebrates people of color at every level, and centers and amplifies the voices of those currently furthest from justice.

Our Racial Equity Action Plan was first drafted in 2018, then updated for 2021-2024 to strengthen our goals and accountability.

  • Internally, SNG commits to becoming a racially, culturally, and socially diverse organization that treats all people with respect and dignity, recognizes the interconnected nature of overlapping systems of oppression and discrimination, and works to dismantle them.
  • Externally, SNG strives to redress the historical and systemically-rooted inequities in transportation and city investments. We endeavor to do this work in solidarity with the communities furthest from transportation justice as a trustworthy and respectful partner.

Financial Opportunities:

  • We offer sponsorships for all volunteers to attend equity-focused workshops and training.
  • We offer sponsorship for BIPOC community members to attend continuing education workshops and training within transportation, urban design, and public space fields. This fund is open to people of color whether or not they are active volunteers within our coalition.
  • We offer financial and other support for BIPOC-led groups and programs in our movement for special events or other opportunities through our solidarity fund.

Educational Events:

We host periodic events providing historical and cultural education for our volunteers and community, including racial equity workshops, movement-specific educational events. You can see recordings of some of our past educational events here:

  • Defining Community Safety: SNG in conversation with Aaron Dixon. Seattle Neighborhood Greenways sat down (virtually) for a community conversation with Aaron Dixon, founding member and Captain of the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party. We discussed community ownership of public space, how we define community safety, and community alternatives to policing. You can see the event summary, watch the recording or read the full transcript.
  • Ramps to Nowhere: Film screening and panel discussion. Did you know there were originally many more planned highways that would have deeply carved up Seattle? We hosted a film screening and panel discussion about the inspiring history of fighting highway expansion in Seattle, highlighting these important stories of uniting communities for a more just and sustainable transportation future. You can watch the film for free and watch our panel discussion

If you are interested in joining our ongoing racial equity workgroup to help us plan events, workshops, and programs, please contact: clara@seattlegreenways.org