Firesteel

As the 2023 Washington legislative session begins, YWCA is dedicated to relentlessly advocating for legislation that helps marginalized communities go from surviving to thriving. 

Guest author Jennifer Bereskin traces the urbanization of Native Americans through violated treaties and assimilationist federal policies, and shares her own experience as an Urban Indian maintaining connections to her indigenous community.

As Washington legislators vote on state budgets for the next year, we're focused on how they can invest in the most foundational solution to many of our issues today: building new affordable housing across Washington.

A tax on the ultra-wealthy would make Washington's tax code more racially and economically equitable, while raising billions for the social services that are the foundation of our economic recovery.

Our state has the most upside-down tax code in the nation. Coupled with a pandemic that’s lasted nearly 2 years, this has widened income inequality and deprived cities of the resources they need to recover. The solution? Progressive revenue.

Even after serving their sentences, low-income and BIPOC defendants are buried under lifelong Washington court debts that exacerbate racial inequity and prevent people from achieving stability post-incarceration. YWCA is advocating in 2022 to change this injustice with a bill in the Washington Legislature.