Community

Sellen Community Foundation Commits $50,000 to Racial Justice

To further the impact of Sellen Construction’s work toward pursuing equity and justice, the Sellen Community Foundation (SCF) is pledging $50,000 to nonprofits that have a mission to address racial justice in the Puget Sound community. After a thorough and thoughtful evaluation, SCF has selected four nonprofit organizations to partner with, including two nonprofits whose efforts directly impact the A/E/C industry.

The SCF plans to remain committed and connected to these nonprofits through the coming years to help propel their change-making solutions for racial equity. These nonprofit organizations are:

Social Justice Fund Northwest: This foundation focuses on long-term social justice solutions throughout the region by funding a wide range of activist organizations working in communities of color. For example, one of its programs, the Giving Projects, is a unique model of funding that provides financial resources to grassroots organizations that are actively working toward progressive social change.

Glover Empower Mentoring: GEM is a unique mentoring program that addresses school dropout prevention and aims to divert youth from the criminal justice system into positive pathways of education, employment and healthy relationships. Its services include case management services, group and individual mentoring, and weekly activities that benefit young adults in their daily lives.

ANEW: Working together with Sellen, SCF is expanding its current partnership with ANEW, which focuses on diversifying the trades and breaking down employment barriers for all people, especially BIPOC and womxn. ANEW provides training, employment navigation, and support services that lead to successful, family-wage careers in the construction industry.

Lavender Rights Project – Reckoning Trade Project: As an essential program of the Lavender Rights Project, the Reckoning Trade Project aims to increase representation and retention for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities within the construction trades. It provides training and presentations focused on gender diversity and intersectionality for employers, unions and educators.

Additionally, the SCF is doubling its diversity-focused scholarships provided at the University of Washington, Washington State University and Central Washington University as part of a commitment to fund diverse candidates who are pursuing degrees in construction management or a similar program.

The $50,000 and scholarship pledges are in addition to the investments that the SCF had already committed to this year, one of which includes a long-term pledge to the Seattle Children’s Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic, which provides health services to BIPOC children in need in the Seattle community.

 

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“We are excited to find a number of social justice organizations that are connected to both our work and our industry. We hope this is the first step in making a difference in the way our A/E/C community, and we at the Sellen Community Foundation and Sellen, are collaboratively investing in racial equity work.”

– Scott Redman, CEO