Inclusive & Welcoming Economy

The City of Kirkland is intentional about creating and supporting a community and economy that are inclusive and welcoming. The resources below are intended to serve as a ‘toolkit’ for businesses and organizations in the spirit of this commitment. The launching of this resource is part of the City’s continual improvement following an incident stemming from a police dispatch call that involved the Totem Lake Menchie’s frozen yogurt shop. This directory is intended as a dynamic resource, one that will be regularly updated and amended to reflect community input, feedback and changing circumstances.

AAPI Support & Resources
Business Assistance for BIPOC Communities

The Welcoming Community

The Welcoming Standard and Certified Welcoming, by Welcoming America

Welcoming America has developed a set of criteria called the Welcoming Standard(PDF, 17MB)  to detail what it means for a community to be welcoming. The Welcoming Standard forms the backbone of the Certified Welcoming Program, a formal recognition of city and county governments that meet the rigorous criteria of the Welcoming Standard. These Welcoming Criteria include specific standards which are relevant to local enterprises broadly, and include specific requirements for:

  • Equitable Access (pg. 13);
  • Civic Engagement (pg 17);
  • Connected Communities (pg 19);
  • Education (pg 21);
  • Economic Development (pg 22);
  • Safe Communities (pg 25)

The City of Kirkland is a participating member of Welcoming America. 

Welcoming America Resources Library

An extensive library of resources, toolkits and playbooks for creating inclusive and welcoming communities to foster local prosperity.

 

Kirkland Police Department

New protocol for handling "unwanted person" calls by local businesses

The new protocol implemented by the Kirkland Police Department reinforces that officers should mediate between business owners and a person being asked to leave, and includes guidance such as:

  • Find out if the owner/employee has asked the person to leave.
  • Encourage owners/employees to communicate, either in-person or through signage, why the unwanted person is being asked to leave.
  • In cases where this does not work, officers should attempt to mediate the conversation and determine if there is a valid reason for this person to be asked to leave.

 

Regional Organizations and Coalitions

Eastside For All

The first race and social justice advocacy organization serving East King County communities.

BizDiversity.net

A regional, online community of businesses serving diverse communities, promoting the ideals of diversity and inclusion in an effort to help members grow and succeed. 

Eastside Refugee and Immigrant Coalition (ERIC)

ERIC is a membership organization led by founder Debbie Lacy, that advocates for welcoming, culturally competent practices across sectors to reflect the needs of our multi-cultural community

Eastside Cultural Navigator Program

Organization that helps newcomers from other countries who speak little to no English access a wide variety of services.

Seattle Race and Social Justice Initiative (RSJI)

A groundbreaking, city-wide effort to end institutionalized racism and race-based disparities in city government.

Communities Rise

Communities Rise fosters movements to build power in communities impacted by systemic oppression. To create an equitable system, they pursue cross-sector collaboration and provide capacity building and legal services for community organizations and microenterprises.

 

Video Resources

Greater Kirkland Chamber of Commerce

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Luncheon 2022

The Third Place: Our Commitment, Renewed

From Starbucks Stories & News

City Stream, Race and Families, episode 2/27/2014

Seattle Channel video about the efforts of the Seattle Race and Social Justice Initiative RSJI to combat institutional racism.

What does my headscarf mean to you? Yassim Abdel-Magied, TEDxSouth Bank, Jan 21, 2016

TEDx talk on implicit bias from the perspective of a young, female, Muslim former boxer, race-car engineer and oil rig engineer.

 

Articles, Books, and Misc.

Harvard’s Project Implicit: Implicit Association Test

The Harvard Implicit Association Test (IAT) measures attitudes and beliefs that people may be unwilling or unable to report. Taking it, you may discover places where you have an implicit attitude that you did not know about.

Blindspot, Banali, Mahzarin and Greenwald, Anthony, 2013 Delacorte Press 

Researchers on implicit bias from Harvard University and the University of Washington, Banaji and Greenwald (respectively) explore the extent to which identity with social groups subconsciously shapes our judgments about people’s character, abilities and potential.

Defining Racism, by The Seattle Race and Social Justice Initiative(PDF, 236KB)

Diagram of individual, institutional and structural forms of racism.

Seeds of Growth: Building Your Local Economy by Supporting Immigrant Entrepreneurs

Practical ways for communities to leverage the opportunities that exist when immigrant entrepreneurs are included in local economic development strategies and programs.

Investing in Refugee Talent: Lessons Learned in Labor Market Integration, by Hire Immigrants(PDF, 2MB)

Hire Immigrants is an international platform that supports employers to realize the benefits of immigrant skills, talents and experience.

How can your business benefit from understanding cultural customs?

By Estrella Chan, Founder, English Around the World, www.englisharoundtheworld.com

The Implicit Revolution: Reconceiving the Relation Between Conscious and Unconscious(PDF, 148KB)

by Greenwald, Anthony and Banaji, Mahzarin, American Psychologist, 2017, Vol. 72, No. 9, 861-871 

How Americans’ Biases Are Changing (or Not)…

Charlesworth, Tessa E.S and Banaji, Mahzarin R., Harvard Business Review, August 02, 2019
Academic research suggesting that implicit attitudes in societies can and do change over time, and that “Americans’ implicit attitudes about sexual orientation, race and skin tone have all decreased meaningfully in bias over the past decade.”