Policy & Practice | April 2021

POVERTY REDUCTION WORK GROUP

The STEERING COMMITTEE

The Work Group included members from diverse systems and sectors and was led by a 22-person steering committee reflecting the experience of poverty in WA State

STEERING COMMITTEE Monthly, full day meetings to: set priorities provide feedback and direction to Work Group

PARTICIPANTS

Agencies Racial & Ethnic Commissions Tribal & Urban Indians Employers Community-Based Organiza ti ons Steering Commi tt ee

Think Tanks Philanthropy

Legislators Advocates

Development of strategies and recommendations

POVERTY REDUCTION WORK GROUP Steering Committee Co-chairs represent at full Work Group meeting

across the state to discuss how this effort would be different. The PRWG had to acknowledge a harsh reality: Despite the intentions behind them, previous attempts to reduce poverty had fallen short and the story being told about poverty in Washington State was wrong.

measurably and equitably reduce it. The journey was afoot. Soon after, Governor Inslee’s Poverty Reduction Work Group (PRWG) 1 was born and tasked with creating a 10-year strategic plan to reduce poverty and inequality in Washington State. Governor Inslee’s Poverty Reduction Work Group For more than two years, PRWG—a 70-member group of state agencies, racial and ethnic commissions, legisla- tors, community organizations and advocates, employers, tribal and urban Indians, philanthropists, and people experiencing poverty—met monthly

A similar conversation was hap- pening within state agencies. State government leaders were strapped by their budgets and fatigued from trying to do more with less. Health and human services budgets were trimmed to the bone, undermining programs’ ability to meet the increasing needs of Washingtonians. Government leaders, wary of another recession, also felt something had to give. In a leap of faith, a bipartisan group of community organizations, legislators, and agency leaders came together to create space for an honest conversation about the root causes of poverty and what it would take to

The Story We Tell About Poverty Isn’t True

In her 2016 TED talk, 2 Mia Birdsong shares stories about the extraordinary talent and entrepreneurialism of the people in her community, a low-income area in Oakland, CA. Many people dismiss communities like Oakland, but

Diane Klontz is the Assistant Director of the Community Services and Housing Division at theWashington State Department of Commerce.

Drayton Jackson is the Co-Chair of the Washington State Poverty Reduction Work Group Steering Committee.

Juanita Maestas is the Co-Chair of the Washington State Poverty Reduction Work Group Steering Committee.

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