Canoe Landing at Salmon Homecoming 2022. Photo by Erik Holsather.
Community Partnership Committees
In 2022, Friends developed two Community Partnership Committees, the Pulling Together Committee, consisting of Indigenous community organizers and leaders, and the Community Connections Committee, consisting of BIPOC community organizers and leaders. These citizen advisory committees provide recommendations and feedback in support of Friends’ inclusion and racial equity impact.
As we anticipate the completion and opening of Waterfront Park in 2025, there is a critical need for strategic visioning and planning to ensure that all communities, particularly those that have been historically excluded – youth, seniors, people with disabilities, and BIPOC – have access to enjoyable cultural and recreational opportunities and the economic benefits of Waterfront Park.
Canoe Landing at Salmon Homecoming 2022. Photo by Raven's Tale Studio.
Pulling Together Committee (PTC)
The Pulling Together Committee convenes members of our local Tribal leaders, community members, and Urban Natives from the greater Puget Sound region to support the goals and objectives of Friends of Waterfront Seattle through the inclusion of Indigenous voices, values, and interests by assessing Friends’ community engagement and partnerships efforts, public programs, events, and activities at Seattle’s Waterfront.
PTC has centered their recommendations, feedback, and evaluations specifically to Friends’ focus on Indigenous communities and Indigenous representation in public programs, community engagement, partnerships, and other community-centric aspects of Friends’ work. PTC is currently facilitated by Jordan Remington, Friends’ Public Programs Manager & Curator of Indigenous Programs. The Pulling Together Committee will also be expanding its Indigeneity membership to include Indigenous community members of the US, Canada, and Mexico.
Africatown's Soul on the Waterfront event in 2022. Photo by OutsideThinc.
Community Connections Committee (C3)
The Community Connections Committee convenes individuals from various communities throughout Seattle and the Puget Sound region, who are exclusively from marginalized groups and/or identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color. C3 is also joined by two additional members of the Friends’ board to oversee and advance Friends’ inclusion and social equity efforts on the Board of Directors level.
C3’s feedback has centered on assessing whether the community engagement, partnership building, public programming, and other decisions made by Friends are meeting and exceeding cultural, civic engagement, educational, recreational, vending, and other pertinent needs and values identified by communities traditionally left out of engagement efforts and public programming initiatives, particularly in parks.
C3 is currently facilitated by Sarneshea Evans, DEI convener and facilitation contractor who previously served as Friends’ Community Impact Manager.
Coming soon: Accessibility Committee
Friends is planning the launch of the Accessibility Committee, which will bring together leaders and representatives of disability communities in Seattle and Puget Sound. This committee will convene people who identify as persons with disabilities, have a user’s perspective, have personal experience with disability and advocacy; can speak broadly on disability issues opposed to only addressing personal needs, or who are knowledgeable about a variety of physical, communication, and program access issues (hearing, vision, mobility, speech, cognitive limitations, etc.).
This committee will provide feedback on improving Friends’ understanding and responsiveness to a diverse audience of people with disabilities. It is our intention for the Accessibility Committee members to support the facilitation of two-way communication with the disability community they are representing and advise the development of creative solutions that will eradicate barriers and produce recommendations that serve the mutual interest of the communities, businesses, and organizations impacted by Waterfront Park.
2023 Community Partnership Committees
Are you interested in joining one of our three committees? We are actively inviting community leaders, organizers, and members to join our 2023 Community Partnership Committees. Applications for the Pulling Together Committee are due by 5:00pm on March 24th, 2023. Applications for the Community Connections Committee are closed.
Membership Benefits and Incentives
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Members are compensated $75 for each meeting and end-of-year interview
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For in-person meetings, members are provided parking reimbursements
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Members will have the opportunity to network with all committee members and share initiatives, events, and other news during meetings
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Members will have direct communication with various department members at Friends to provide their recommendations for ongoing projects
2022 PTC Members
2022 C3 Members
What do you want to see, eat, and do on the waterfront?
Want to plan an event? Have an idea for an activity? We want to hear from you! Waterfront Park is committed to serving the needs of its diverse communities through cultural, educational, and recreational activities in a beautiful, welcoming environment.