To publicly share the progress of its work to advance equity across all of its work, the Port of Seattle released two interactive dashboards on its website that track the implementation of equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts and the metrics and goals associated with those efforts.
The first dashboard, the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (EDIB) Dashboard, monitors the progress of and provides visibility into the steps being taken to create a more equitable and inclusive Port. This dashboard allows all Port employees and the public to quickly see the aggregate progress percentage toward identified actions and recommendations from the 2021 Equity Assessment and Women of Color Assessment; the progress made by each department in meeting its annual departmental-specific equity goals; and the results of the Port’s annual internal Belonging and Inclusion Survey.
“We believe the act of regularly measuring progress on our efforts can improve communication, accountability, and transparency to ensure we are upholding our commitments to anti-racism and equity that we have made to both Port employees and the broader community,” said Steve Metruck, Executive DIrector of the Port of Seattle.
The second dashboard, the Equity Spending and Accountability Project (ESAP) Dashboard, displays the Port’s annual “equity spending” investments. Equity spending is a term developed and defined by a cross-departmental team of Port employees. Per the Port Commission’s Equity Policy Directive, the Port was tasked to develop a definition and tracking mechanism for measuring how the organization invests in staff, communities, businesses, and projects and programs that advance equity, diversity, and inclusion.
"Serving as Commissioner on the Workforce Development and Equity Committee, I engaged in exciting discussions with staff, and my initial focus revolved around devising effective methods to quantify and substantiate our commitment to promoting equity by evaluating our investments," said Port of Seattle Commissioner Hamdi Mohamed. “We researched what other organizations are doing to measure these investments, and honestly, we didn't find much. So, we developed our own innovative methodology for how we define equity spending and how we categorize those investments. It’s not perfect, but it gives us a starting place to measure our equity spending year over year, and it furthers our accountability and transparency to the communities we serve.”
During the period of 2019–2022, the Port spent an average of 3% of its annual operating budget on expenditures classified as equity spending. Equally as important, now that the Port has identified which programs best serve structurally excluded communities, it can make informed decisions about strategic investments moving forward and track the progress of those investments.
The ESAP Dashboard provides information about how equity spending is defined and how expenses are broken into one of six categories: community investments, removing systemic barriers, engagement, advancing diversity, supplier diversity, and environmental justice.
Learn more about the EDIB Dashboard and ESAP Dashboard, and subscribe to the Equity in Action email newsletter to receive monthly updates on the Port’s work to advance equity.
In 2019, the Port of Seattle became the first port authority in the nation to establish an Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, which is leading our efforts to become an equitable, anti-racist organization. There is much work ahead to truly realize this goal, but we are committed to imbedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into the fabric of the organization.
The Port of Seattle commits to being a leader in regional and national efforts to achieve equity and social justice. Our vision is to develop a Port that mirrors—throughout its breadth of operations and services and within its leadership structure—the diversity of our community, instills principles of equity in its culture, and ensures a fair and intentional distribution of opportunities with the goal of expanding economic development and quality of life for all.
Contact
Peter McGraw | Port of Seattle Senior Media Officer
(206) 787-3446 | mcgraw.p@portseattle.org
