Priorities in Practice
We invest and learn in six primary thematic areas, which rotate annually over a two-year cycle. Each year we select one priority per theme on which we center our grantmaking and learning programs.
Even Year Themes
- Law, Justice, & Incarceration: Exploring how people interact with the legal system in WA State, including the push for more equitable laws, and the impact of incarceration on our community.
- Housing & Hunger: Exploring how our community provides the basic necessities of a safe place to live and culturally appropriate food to eat, with an emphasis on addressing systems that create barriers for all to thrive.
- Arts & Community Culture: Exploring the beautiful variety of the living expression and rooted history of culture, including how creativity and tradition enhance our community.
Odd Year Themes
- Healthcare: Exploring how people interact with the healthcare system in WA State, including more equitable access to culturally informed care.
- Climate & Agricultural Justice: Exploring agricultural systems and their intersection with our environment, including creative approaches to mitigating the inequitable impacts of climate change.
- Education: Exploring how our community is served by the education system, including efforts to provide equitable opportunities for Washington’s learners.
The priority selection process begins at the Convening: a day of learning each September that is free and open to the public. At the Convening we explore the upcoming year’s thematic areas through the lens of changemakers working in those areas across Washington State. Afterwards, all Convening attendees are invited to share what priorities they believe we should fund in the upcoming year’s themes.
In October of each year, the top community priorities from the Convening are presented to the WaWF membership for a vote. The results of the membership vote, announced at our Annual Meeting each October, decide our funding and learning priorities for the upcoming year.