Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging

The Phinney Neighborhood Association (PNA) is a community non-profit organization committed to a welcoming, equitable, and inclusive Northwest Seattle community that offers quality of life to all who live, work, go to school, and visit here.

PNA offers memberships that help support our work. Anyone can become a member–we have members that live as close as across the street and as far as Brownsville, Texas. You don’t have to be a member to participate in programs or events. All are welcome!

The PNA recognizes and acknowledges that inequity and exclusion are present within Northwest Seattle and is supported by both historic and current policies and actions in our society. People have been marginalized by their race, ethnicity, religion, and immigration status among other factors. This has reduced access to the great amenities and services we have in Northwest Seattle. We acknowledge and recognize that PNA has areas for growth to become more inclusive as an organization, and have an active DEIB Committee.

We welcome and need your feedback and involvement if this work is going to be successful. Please feel free to contact us at [email protected].

Guiding goal

As part of our 2019-2021 Strategic Priorities, one of our goals is to build a culture of equity and inclusion. PNA seeks to create a community center where everyone feels welcome to participate, engage, and lead the way to an inclusive and equitable community.

Action

Since 2019, the PNA has worked to identify and dismantle institutional systems and personal behaviors within the organization that perpetuate and reinforce inequity in the following ways:

2022

The PNA has long been a place for community members to connect, share resources, support each other, engage in social activities, and create programs and services that support the neighborhood. But we recognize that some community members have not felt included or connected to the PNA.

The PNA, like many communities and organizations around the northwest, country, and world, has experienced a lot of change and dealt with many challenges the past few years–from racial reckoning, social injustice, political strife, economic hardships, and of course, the COVID pandemic.

The PNA comes out of the past couple of years with a desire to build on what we are doing well and strive to do better.

The PNA is conducting a Northwest Seattle Community Survey to answer these questions and better understand the community and help raise awareness about current opportunities for engagement.

2021

  • Conducted an employee compensation analysis, and made adjustments, to help ensure that the PNA’s compensations are fair and equitable.
  • Updated the organization’s vision and values to align equity and inclusion into our values.
  • Created the DEIB email address to give staff and community members a low barrier way to connect with the PNA regarding DEIB questions, concerns or suggestions.
  • Started the process of creating an equitable brand guide to use to review language and messaging.
  • Started the process of reviewing the employee handbook with the goal of identifying where we can update language and policies to make them more equitable and inclusive.
  • Supported BIPOC-owned businesses with PPP funding application help.
  • Started a scholarship program for BIPOC-owned businesses to join the PNA as Business Members.
  • Updated board, staff, and committee recruitment practices to include outreach to more diverse groups.
  • Ten staff and board members representing various program areas and levels of the organization participated in Peacemaking Circle Process meetings led by the Huayruro Group.  The circles started in February 2021 and met biweekly for 12 sessions. Read an article about the Peacemaking Circle process written collectively by participating members (April 2021).
  • Reviewed and re-adopted committee charter in March 2021 (Download)

See 2020 archive

Additional links: