Template revised April 12, 2018.
COMMISSION
AGENDA MEMORANDUM
Item No.
11c
BRIEFING ITEM
Date of Meeting
January 4, 2022
DATE: January 4, 2022
TO: Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director
FROM: Bookda Gheisar, Senior Director, Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Jay Doran, Engagement and Communications Program Manager, Office of Equity,
Diversity, and Inclusion
SUBJECT: Equity Motion and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Assessment Final Report
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In accordance with the Port of Seattle Commission’s Racial Bias and Equity Motion (2020-19),
staff have been actively working to implement a comprehensive equity, diversity, and inclusion
(EDI) assessment of the Port of Seattle, specifically reviewing workplace culture; operations and
processes; hiring, promotions, compensations, and staff development; community engagement;
and, contracting and women or minority-owned business enterprises (WMBEs). Also, at the
direction of the Equity Motion, staff have created and operated a Port-wide Change Team and
have implemented and facilitated racial equity training that all staff are required to complete.
The briefing on January 4 will provide a summary of key findings and recommendations from the
EDI Assessment, an update on the work and progress of the Change Team, and an update on the
progress of the required racial equity trainings.
BACKGROUND
Upon the passage of Motion 2020-19, the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion hired Equity
Matters as its consultant. Working with Equity Matters, OEDI put the Change Team through four
months (October 2020 – January 2021) of intensive racial equity training and skill building,
teaching Change Team members the foundations of racial equity work, including how to conduct
root cause analyses and develop solutions to address complex racial inequities. Additionally,
Equity Matters and OEDI developed curriculums for the required racial equity trainings mandated
by Motion 2020-19. One curriculum was designed specifically for supervisors, and the other
curriculum was designed for individual contributors and front-line staff. Throughout 2021, these
trainings have been offered and delivered to Port staff.
In the second quarter of 2021, OEDI collaborated with the Change Team and Business Intelligence
to develop a comprehensive Equity Survey to assess the five focus areas listed above in the
Executive Summary. For a 30-day period, all Port staff were invited and encourage to complete
the Equity Survey. Nearly 61% of the Port’s workforce – 1,306 employees – participate in the
COMMISSION AGENDA – Briefing Item No. 11c Page 2 of 3
Meeting Date: January 4, 2022
Template revised September 22, 2016.
survey. During June and July 2021, OEDI, Business Intelligence, and OEDI consultant Trang Tu
conducted a thorough analysis of both the quantitative and qualitative data from the survey to
understand the themes, patterns, strengths, and areas for improvement.
From July 20 to September 17, 2021, OEDI held 18 EDI Assessment Conversations. These 90-
minute listening sessions, which were open to all staff, were designed to share data from the
Equity Survey with staff; to increase OEDI’s understanding of data from the Equity Survey; and,
to create opportunities for staff to brainstorm creative solutions to disparities and inequities
identified in the Equity Survey. In total, there were 283 employees (including repeats) who
participated in the EDI Assessment Conversations, and participants provided OEDI with a wealth
of creative, innovative ideas and recommendations for addressing inequities and transforming
the Port into an equitable, anti-racist organization.
The ideas generated from the EDI Assessment Conversations, along with input from the Change
Team, the Port’s Chapter of Blacks in Government, employee resources groups, and the
Development and Diversity Council, a represented workers task force, a departmental survey
regarding equity in budgeting, feedback from racial equity trainings and anti-racist caucusing,
staff from organizationally cross-cutting departments (e.g. Human Resources and Central
Procurement Office), and the OEDI team, have all informed the recommendations that the
Commission will be briefed on and are include in the public materials for the January 4
Commission meeting.
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
The EDI Assessment, including the findings from the Equity Survey, identified patterns of
disparities and inequities within the Port’s culture and processes. These inequities include, but
are not limited to:
• The opinions of Black, Indigenous, and people of color employees are not sought out,
valued, and fully considered in decision making.
• The Port’s work, programs, and processes are not consistently evaluated in terms of their
impact on racial equity.
• Supervisors play a critical role in advancing racial equity, but, they need support and
accountability in imbedding equity into their team’s work.
• In comparison to women and employees of color, white men receive unfair and unearned
advantages with regards to job advancement and promotions.
• There is a need to reduce barriers and create more accessible processes by which WMBEs,
small businesses, and community-based organizations can compete for and win Port
contracts.
• There is a need for stronger guidance and consistency in how the Port engages and builds
relationships BIPOC communities.
The EDI Assessment Final Report and Executive Summary – both of which provided as
attachments to this memo – outline a robust set of recommendations to address the identified
disparities and to advance racial equity. The recommendations are categorized into six focus
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Meeting Date: January 4, 2022
Template revised September 22, 2016.
areas – workplace culture; operations and processes; employment; equity capacity building;
engaging WMBEs and small businesses; and, engaging impacted communities – and are a mix of
both short-term and long-term tactics and strategies. The intent is for the Port to begin
implementing these recommendations in 2022.
ATTACHMENTS TO THIS BRIEFING
(1) EDI Assessment Final Report and Appendices
(2) EDI Assessment Executive Summary
(3) Presentation slides
PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS [For information and examples, follow this link.]
• September 16, 2021 – The Commission’s Equity and Workforce Development Committee
was updated on the progress of the EDI Assessment, including the Equity Survey and EDI
Assessment Listening Sessions.
• October 13, 2020 – The Commission approved the Racial Bias and Equity Motion.
