_ My traditional Cree name name is Buffalo Singer.
I'm grateful to be here with you.
My name is Zachary Pullin.
My pronouns are he him a citizen of Chippawa Cree nation of rock people of Montana
and the communications director for sales, Department of Neighborhoods.
Thank you all so much for being here today.
I want to take a moment to acknowledge the moment we're in because,
well, this nation is really going through it.
And obviously our city
has had a little bit of a heartbreak of its own, last night.
So, but one thing that we're going to do this today is going to spend our time,
being in community, which is something that Don really loves to do.
So before we get things started, first we're going to hear,
some brief remarks from Seatte's mayor Harrell with some prerecorded,
commands, specifically with us here with us today.
So I'm going to turn it over to you.
- Hello everyone.
I am Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, and thank you for being here
today at the Department of Neighborhoods 2025 open House.
That when the City of Seattle
created the Department of Neighborhoods more than 30 years ago,
it was built on a simple but powerful idea.
Our city works best when people are connected to the government,
and when government listens to the people it serves.
That idea is just as urgent today as it was then.
In fact, it may even be more important now because our neighborhoods
are where city government truly comes alive, where residents
experience our policies and our programs and our promises.
The Department of Neighborhood is the city's connector.
They bring voices to the table that might otherwise be left out.
They build trust where it often doesn't exist, and they help all of us.
Every department represented in this room,
they make our work stronger, more efficient, and more meaningful.
They're not a nice to have.
They are a key function of the city.
Without Don, our work risks being disconnected from the very people
we are here to serve.
So today,
I want each of you to think about how you can partner more deeply with Don.
Bring them in early. Invite their expertise.
Let their programs and their relationships and their equity work amplify
what you do.
Because when Don is at the table,
the city of Seattle can deliver on its promises.
I want to thank Director Jennifer Chao and the entire Department of Neighborhoods
team, and thank all of you for being here to strengthen
the bonds between our government and the people of Seattle.
- Alright.
Thank you to Mayor Harrell for his kind words.
And welcome this afternoon.
Today's, event is our is actually a second open house.
So thanks to you, if you were able to make it so last year.
Sales Department of neighborhoods mission is to strengthen Seattle
by actively engaging all communities.
We provide resources and opportunities for community members
to build strong communities and improve their quality of life.
In today's brief program,
we hear from three community leaders who will share their experiences
and connection to Don and our work today together.
Reinforcing this mission.
This year's open House is a little different too.
We are focused on highlighting the breadth of all of Don's program areas,
and I'm going to listen.
Pea patch
Gardening program
of preservation, civic engagement, People's Academy for Community Engagement,
community engagement coordinators, committee liaisons at the Improvement
Advisors, Neighborhood Matching Fund, community grants,
Food Equity fund, community activations, community capacity and safety are working.
The CFD Strategic Partnerships, even Indigenous Advisory Council,
Community Involvement mission, Seattle Renters Commission and the Seattle
Commission, they're all here representing today.
So now let's get to it.
I'd like to welcome our first speaker, who is a community liaison,
our incredible committee liaisons or independent contractors
from historically underrepresented communities,
including immigrant and refugee communities of color, seniors, people
with disabilities, and people experiencing homelessness, to name a few,
that bring a deep expertise and strategy around the needs of their communities
and support city projects and culturally relevant outreach and engagement.
Today, I'm excited to welcome Linda Li,
who has served her community for the past 16 years as a journalist,
cultural center administrator and a Chinese community liaison.
Raised up in a family of scholars scholar, she launched several national
youth titles in writing, speech and debate her interest in political science
with a five year dedicated graduate study in academic research at states,
which also laid a solid foundation for her new service
and pursuit of social justice.
She is a dedicated member of the All-America City Award team from 2005.
Please welcome Linda
- OThank y'all.
I, I was excited
to, give this talk until I found, out.
I will be speaking right after the mayor.
No pressure. Right.
It's great to see so many familiar faces,
but we haven't met before. Hi.
I'm Linda Li.
I'm honored to serve as a community.
Is all, for that.
Oh, for the past eight years, in this role,
I act as a bridge between the city and the my community by helping
make sure our voices are heard, needs are understood,
and the people have access to the programs and the services that make
our city thrive.
As a first generation immigrants,
I know how difficult it can be to find your place in a new home,
especially when language or culture can make a government feel distant.
My goal has always been to make that distance smaller,
to make people see that their voices matter,
that their ideas belong, and that do I deserve to shake this city
to the committee liaison program builds
trust in, communities in two major ways.
One is by partnering with trusted, culturally and linguistically
diverse leaders who have deep roots within the communities they serve.
The other is by, develop their zones,
into, you know, community leaders,
providing them with hands on experience,
leadership training and directing woman
in civic, processes through active participation
in city projects, policy discussions
and public engagement efforts.
There's also valuable skills communication,
facilitation, advocacy, and problem solving.
We learn how to navigate the complex systems
and activating
community voices in decision making.
I'm empowered by the community building work.
We do it.
It may seem like small work, but it builds up over time.
We unite communities.
We let them know they have a voice
and help them share it.
It has worked.
It is empowering also for this community to know that
they can participate in our city's work and that their opinions are valued.
It can be daunting to get involved when you might not know that
it's even an option, and then have to deal with language barriers.
What project is that?
Well, always stay with me is the Democracy Voucher program.
Anybody knows that?
Yeah, many people in my community came from places
where they never have the chance to vote,
to participate or to influence policy.
I remember writing articles and holding community conversations
to explain this opportunity, and to see people light up
when they realize their voices for the shake their local government is.
That's what engagement looks like.
Not just informing people, but inspire them
to believe that they belong in democracy.
Despite the differences in our language.
You know, with my background in political science,
I didn't truly understand the the power of grassroots engagement
until I became a community liaison,
that this work has shown me
that real change doesn't start with policy.
It starts in relationships.
It starts with trust.
It starts in listening.
When we built that foundation and we see the initiative,
big or small, become stronger and more active
community.
liasons are already trusted members of the community
and are uniquely positioned to listen
and communicate back to, and build
authentic relationships between residents under the city.
Last year, I reached out to the management of a local Asian
supermarket to introduce the city's initiative
for expanding electric vehicle infrastructure and to discuss the benefits
of installing an EV charging station in their parking lot.
This was.
We are head off City Lights Outreach
and the surprise of my project manager is standing all.
But everyone was happy about it.
The connection being built to the community is essence
proactive philosophy.
The city can do more
when it works with the community, not just for the community.
The Community Liaison program makes that possible.
We make that much more human, more accessible, and the more effective.
I would like to collaborate with more departments in the city,
because I know work is sometimes outsourced to contracting companies.
The SEO program recruits very trusted and knowledgeable people.
We have strong leadership in the education background
and then we have translation certificates.
We are very qualified and the cost effective.
I hope to see our program establish contact
with small city programs
to expand our reach into communities across Seattle.
Utilizing community liaison not only serves public funds,
but also spends in local capacity and ensures that city initiatives
are guided by genuine community voices
rather than transactional outreach.
I hope to see this model grow,
because investing in liaisons means investing in connection,
and the connection is what holds a city together.
Thank you.
- Thank you.
Then can we give it up?
One more time for Linda.
Next, we're going to hear
from someone, who is connected to another part of our work.
Don has partnered with the City Visioning Forum for the last six years.
We also support such a community safety effort,
which is led by Friends of Little Saigon.
So I'm honored to welcome our next speaker.
Quynh clan is the executive director of friends of Little Saigon,
a community development organization dedicated to preserving
nature, preserving and enhancing
Little Saigon, its cultural, economic, historical vitality.
Coming from a small business family, Quynh is passionate
about supporting small, immigrant, refugee owned businesses and fostering
community driven solutions for health, safety and well-being
for 14 years of nonprofit development experience and shape local policy.
Advanced opportunities for the entities first cultural practitioners,
and increased investments in Bipoc initiatives around technical
element and small business resilience.
Please welcome Quynh.
- Thank you.
Hi, everyone.
Going after Linda, I think it's more intimidating
coming.
Oh. It's amazing.
Hey, again, my name is Quynh Pham.
I'm the executive director of friends, a little Saigon.
As, Zach said, we've been around for 14 plus years.
And I think the success of our work in the way
that we do things, is really in collaboration and partnership.
So I'm here today to talk about the CID Vision Group.
This group was formed probably over a decade ago.
And it was because, the city, the neighborhood
was had a planning document that was expiring.
I think it was reaching over like 20 years since it even looked at this, document.
And we wanted to do a process where we re-envision the neighborhood.
But at the time that that process is very much city driven,
and it lacks, community connection and rooted in
what the community wanted to see for itself. So,
some things important.
I'll just keep it short.
And so from there, the CID vision was born,
and it was born out of also support from Doe and many other city partners.
And around the table.
And since then, the city vision
has helped guide a lot of the visioning, but also, combat
a lot of the challenges and projects that keep coming to the city.
This is one table where we've been able to bring together
a lot of different stakeholders.
If you've worked with the CID you know,
that this is a beautiful, amazing, culturally rich neighborhood,
but we also have a lot of challenges and internal,
drama to say
every neighborhood does use, you know,
and so I think this that we have finally come to a place where
I think all of us have felt like this has been a really great process,
and the community has had,
an opportunity to really drive home
what we want to see and what we want to prioritize for the neighborhood.
And so,
yeah, it's, I think it's a model
that could be replicated in other neighborhoods across the city.
And Don's role has mainly been, to help facilitate those relationships,
but also coordinate with city interdepartmental, folks within the city.
And, is a backbone of some of the kind of back end things
when it comes to working with so many different entities in the neighborhood.
Yeah.
And last I would say is
there's still a lot of work to be done, but I think resources like this,
especially in the community liaisons and all the things that Don has offered,
has really helped, the CID focus on the things, we want to do
rather than kind of on the, like, back end grant tracking, all those things.
We focus on achieving the goals
we wanted to see for the neighborhood and for the community.
So. Yeah. Thank you.
- Thank you so much for.
All right.
So next up is a speaker
connected to one of our legacy programs, the Neighborhood Matching Fund.
As a former community council officer on Capitol Hill,
I know how important and valuable this funding can be.
The Neighborhood Matching Fund program provides matching dollars for neighborhood
improvement, community organizing, and projects to notify community members.
It invests directly in community driven projects
that bring people together across cultures and generations.
Now, I'd like to introduce our last community
speaker, Grady Austin, who is, one.
Sorry. Yes, yes, sure.
Go ahead.
Grady
is the executive director of Sundiata African American Cultural Association.
They produce festival Sundiata,
which presents the Black Arts Fest.
Originally from Buffalo, New York, came to Seattle because, serving in
the Navy, is a father of four and grandfather of four.
I'd love you to please give your second and louder clap for Grady Austin.
- Thank.
Good afternoon everyone.
Thank you for allowing us to be here.
I'm there for him, for his support.
I want to thank the channel
for allowing us to be here and your guidance and support.
My name is Grady Anthony Austin.
I am the executive director of Sundiata African American Cultural Association.
We produce as well.
Sundiata black arts. fest.
It's housed right there at Seattle Center.
How many of you have heard of it?
Festival Sundiata.
Make some noise.
We are
a seven member, all volunteer board.
We work all year to produce this black arts festival.
And our assignment is to present
the black community to the Pacific Northwest.
We we are a part of Festal which houses
25 cultural festivals held down in the Seattle Center.
They're they're the, cultural,
programing the permanent of Seattle Center.
You see one of the directors,
Chelsea and it's known Chelsea.
Chelsea once
Chelsea is is a is a advocate of ours.
And as a thank you, Chelsea, for the intellectual guidance and support
festival.
Sundiata for me, I was going to festival Sundiata for years.
I've only been a part for about five years.
They asked me to be the executive director every time that I went to festival.
Sundiata, it was.
I could just say it felt like love.
It felt like being at home.
It's a it's a, it's a festival where everyone is welcome
at an iconic location, Seattle Center, right.
Who doesn't want to be in Seattle?
Said,
what we do,
we work all year long, but we don't do it in a silo.
There's no way that we could do the type of festival that we do and we are growing.
This is our 46th year.
We're getting our 46th year.
And as the festival,
we work
with a lot of different individuals, it's important for us as a black community
that our children see themselves
and have an opportunity to be on stage and have an opportunity to present
and look towards their future as a part of our community
is also equally as important for us
as a culture community, that our elders stories
be told in a way that honors our elders in their experience.
So that is communicated to the world, makes sense and makes sense.
That's what all of the cultural programs do that are part of that stop.
Yeah, not just Festal Sundiata.
That's what I believe is legacy.
Being able to
chart a course for our children and honor our elders.
Now, that being said, that silo that I said we don't work in, there is no way
we can do what we do without the help of the Department of Neighborhoods
and the neighborhood matching,
we we've been getting
the of, of close to 23 years now.
That's a long time.
That's a long time
that the city has been supporting cultural programing in the city
and is so important because when we as a commune,
and I'm not going to be as long as my predecessor
talk, but we as a Seattle
community really come together.
This room looks like Seattle.
This is Seattle.
And what the department neighborhoods
does, what Seattle Center does, what we do
and working with with all of our stakeholders is we provide
an opportunity for the black community to present themselves to the world.
We over the last ten years,
we bring in some of the largest names in R&B.
We bring in some of the artists.
We have a world class art exhibit,
the painters and the graphic arts.
They're they're they're second to none.
So if you haven't been, please mark your calendars for Festival.
Sundiata, I will close with this.
This is how I communicate with our board.
It's important, this work that we do
as a Seattle community.
As a Seattle community,
we must work together to make Seattle happen.
We must work together
to make culture happen together.
And we can do it.
So if you would just please, please,
you know, play along with me because this is how I share with my board.
Repeat after me
if necessary.
Sorry I can't hear the people in the back.
They're not playing along here.
It's necessary. It's necessary.
It's possible.
It is possible. Together we will do it
well.
So I want to thank all of you that work with the city of Seattle
for the work that you do.
I thank you for allowing us to be here.
And once again.
- Thank you.
All right.
Before we move, actually, does everybody,
on the trivia, I can give you a quick answers
so you can actually have a homework.
Okay.
Anybody want to know the first answer?
Anybody got there? Anyone?
I didn't know it was man who just shout it out.
Less than 1%. Great answer. That's right.
Less than 1%.
It's a 5.5 I think that's right.
What's the question for those of us,
what percentage of the city is within a historic district?
It's less than 1%.
It's like 1.5 for this historic preservation.
People are not using.
Tell me at the office, let's say, what is the newest people to the city?
Anybody know the answer?
Yelling out some bulldog buyers pulled out a great answer.
Okay.
Anybody in in one of the Indigenous advisory council shared values.
Anybody
seen that
teamwork.
And that's right. Okay.
I guess one of them is embrace humor.
Great talent.
Okay.
The other ones are centering dignity
on their collective responsibility and collective power.
And the last one is what is the sweetened beverage tax fund?
Anybody know you know it out here.
That really fun.
Great job. Okay.
All right.
This,
We are, at the end of our, our program here.
So thank you for sticking with us.
Our last speaker, is, is the permanent difference director Jennifer Chow.
Jennifer Chow is honored to serve as the director of the civil
department of neighborhoods.
In this city.
Jennifer immigrated to us with her family as a refugee from Southeast Asia
and grew up in Seattle, Central District and Beacon Hill. Yes.
Proud of you, the graduate.
She brings more than 23 years of public service experience, including,
excuse me, through
time in the, nonprofit sector.
And as a small business owner.
Throughout her career, Jennifer has served and focused on building community,
helping young people find their paths,
advancing racial equity through innovative city programs supporting
neighborhood planning and the Chinatown International District, and creating
Seattle's Cannabis Equity Program to address the harms of the war on drugs.
She believes in centering humanity, uplifting community voices,
and fostering belonging.
Outside of work.
She enjoys coffee, spicy food,
and time with her two kids.
And now I'm honored to call her my colleague and my boss.
Please welcome Dawn's director, Jennifer Chow.
- Thank you so much, Zachary.
Looking out at you all, just
it becomes emotional and so personal to me.
This work.
As I said, I've been with the city
since 2009, and I felt really called home to this wall,
that, but just looking out at you
all, somebody was saying, so what does community look like?
So you look at your neighbor right now and you look around the room.
This is what community looks like.
And in the city of Seattle, we get to create community.
We get to create community wherever we are.
It doesn't exist externally, and is just right here with us yet.
I also want to just say, thank you to everyone
that make time, and I really want to give it up to Kim.
Now, how can we say yes?
You name
to come out and, have fun for us?
I just do when I say just do a meeting.
Somebody came and said, also, is this how Department of Neighborhood does?
And then I said this how we do.
And then they also said, I don't think I've ever seen a DJ in this building.
And I said this the second time this year I won't continue to have,
but we steward our, money properly.
So we just want to let you know
that it is community building we can't do without music.
And the arts has gotten out right.
All right, so now go into my
form of a arts, and then we'll go back to making our connecting and mingling.
So thank you to Mayor Harrell for his remarks.
Thanks to all of you for spending your after being with us.
And special gratitude to our community leaders,
Linda Quynh and Grady,
sharing their testimonies.
In uncertain times right
now, it can be easy to forget what grounds us.
But here in Seattle, we are reminded every day
that our shared humanity is embedded in our communities.
When people care for one another and see each other as neighbors.
And that is why the work
of the Department of Neighborhoods is more important than ever.
Because our mission is to cultivate those connections, honor that humanity,
and ensure that the heart of community remains at the center of our city.
Because every neighborhood has a story,
every neighborhood has a
song, a name in rhythm,
culture, families, hearts and homes,
traditions passed down through generations
love, loss, grief,
joy, connection, relationships,
Seattle's neighborhoods hold all of this, and the Department of Neighborhoods
carries these stories with caring, responsibility.
And that is why we are here today.
We started with an open house last year so that we could be visible
to share with our department partners.
I call them our sibling departments.
Why we are here for you.
The Department of Neighborhood exists to support all our departments,
to support city government, to make sure people have access
to the government and to each other.
They are connected
to open houses, inviting our partners
across the city to see us as essential connectors.
Because when the Department of Neighborhoods is at the table,
your work better reflects the communities you serve.
Your efforts go further,
your resources are used more efficiently, and your policies
and programs embody the true spirit of our city.
So what does that look like in practice?
Let me give you a sense.
The work of Department of Neighborhoods, Personal Relationships and trust.
It shows up in our community.
Liaisons who are embedded in neighborhoods and communities across the city.
They speak the languages, understand the culture, and hold the trust of communities
when you need to reach underrepresented or historically excluded communities,
these trusted messengers make it possible for
our community liaisons
at the bridge between the city and the soul of our neighborhoods.
Through the Utility Assistance Program, Seattle Public Utilities,
and Seattle City Light, they help families keep the light on and water flows,
showing up for community even when times feel uncertain.
Rooted in trust, they open new doors with partners like the Tubman Center,
yes, and Hummingbird Indigenous Family Services
reaching neighbors we might never have reached on our own.
Their inside not only informs our work, it aluminate it
and improves it, reminding us that connection
is our greatest tool for equity and belonging, and that city,
and that the city works best when we work together across departments
and with communities,
to remove barriers for access and improve the lives of our neighbors.
Our work also lives in the
legacy programs that bring neighbors together to lead the change.
They want to see.
If, like the Neighborhood Matching Fund for more than three decades,
this program has empowered communities to turn their own ideas into action.
Our beloved Patch Community gardens, which go deeper than gardening.
These spaces also support food security,
intergenerational connection, reclaiming places of belonging.
One example of the power of the Neighborhood Matching Fund
is in the Grit project, or known
as Guts, resilience, ingenuity and tenacity.
LED by Somali Community Services in Seattle
with support from the Neighborhood Matching Fund.
30 young people who are deep risk found belonging, purpose and pride.
They built media projects, strengthened their mental well-being
and celebrated culture
while transforming how their families and neighborhoods see what is possible.
Grit reignited hope.
We built trust and reminded us that when young people are seen,
supported and believed in, entire communities thrive.
When city
departments partner with us, you are not checking a box for outreach.
You are tapping into existing networks
that we have the years into cultivating and continuing to grow.
That is our DNA, that is our expertise, and we want to gift you.
We build relationships that are resilient and transformational.
I want you to leave today
seeing the Department of Neighborhoods as a strategic partner,
knowing how we can help you design, shape
and deliver work that empowers and sustains work
that is genuinely trusted and embraced by the communities it serves.
A great example of this is with our Equity Engagement Advisors, in partnership
with the Human Services Department's Aging and Disability Services Strategic Plan,
one of our equity engagement advisors helped design
a multi-year outreach and engagement plan that centers underrepresented communities
from the beginning, such as our Black and Latinx elders, LGBTQ, IPA,
plus seniors, people with disabilities, and urban native communities.
By gathering stories and insights firsthand.
In the beginning,
our equity and engagement advisor helped HSD, the Human Services Department,
see how they serve and how to serve them in ways that build trust and efficiency.
This is what the Department of Neighborhoods brings engagement
on the ground and strategic thinking that embeds equity
into plans, programs, and policies across the city.
And at the core of the Department of Neighborhoods is our commitment to equity.
We are a strong partner in the city's recent social justice initiative,
and are often
the first call departments need to engage underrepresented communities.
We show up as trusted partners with proven approaches
that amplify voices that have been historically silenced.
During the height of the pandemic, our Community Engagement coordinators
were a lifeline
for black indigenous people of color and into underserved communities
across Seattle, connecting people with information and resources.
Partnering with 17 grassroots and cultural media
organizations and community engagement coordinators
helped get more than 320,000 personal protective equipment into people's hands,
support testing and vaccine sites, and delivered critical guidance.
Trusted community voices working alongside the Urban League fathers and Sons.
Together, Mount Zion Church and their vaccine productions,
they distributed supplies for comfort, healing and resilience at a time of year.
Uncertainty this is what equity and action looks like, ensuring
everyone gets what they need and no community is left behind.
So today is not just about showing what the Department of Neighborhoods does.
It is about city government working together to ensure that every policy,
every program and city investment centers the heart of our neighborhoods.
Our work is not only about services or systems, it is about stories
and relationships.
When we choose to work together to build trust
and relationships with our communities, we are showing that their stories matter,
that every voice belongs in Seattle's future,
and that is what we must carry forward together.
So I want to thank you for being here.
I want to thank you for being our partners,
and thank you for choosing to invest in this collective work of lifting
the people of Seattle who make the city vibrant.
- Thank you for your time for a great year.
And thank you for for sitting through the program.