Many in our region are prospering and thriving, and for many, this is a great place to live, learn, work and play. In fact, we have some of the most well-off communities in the world.

However, a closer look at how the benefits of our region are distributed shows that we have deeply entrenched social, economic and environmental inequities and injustices that are worsening and threaten our prosperity. Research shows that the color of your skin, where you live and how much you make are major predictors of your life and work experience, and your chances of reaching your full potential. This holds true for our employees and many of our communities.

These inequities are driven by an array of factors including our tax system, unequal access to the determinants of equity, and subtle but pervasive individual bias, and institutional and structural racism and sexism. These factors, while invisible to some of us, have a profound and tangible impacts for others.

While King County government has well-regarded pro-equity policies and programs, we still have a very long way to go. Our ability to create greater levels of institutional and regional equity are limited by the scope of our services and influence.

The shared vision for Equity and Social Justice is consistent with the overall vision of King County’s Strategic Plan: A King County where all people have equitable opportunities to thrive.

Our Equity and Social Justice shared values will guide and shape our work. We are:

• Inclusive and collaborative
• Diverse and people focused
• Responsive and adaptive
• Transparent and accountable
• Racially just
• Focused upstream and where needs greatest

Equity is fundamental to the society we seek to build. It is an ardent journey toward well-being as defined by those most negatively affected. Our end goal is for full and equal access to opportunities, power and resources so all people may achieve their full potential. The process of advancing toward equity will be disruptive and demands vigilance. Being "pro-equity" requires us to dismantle deeply entrenched systems of privilege and oppression that have led to inequitable decision-making processes and the uneven distribution of benefits and burdens in our communities. Similarly, we must focus on those people and places where needs are greatest to ensure that our decisions, policies and practices produce gains for all.

There is an Implementation Plan through 2018. The Policy Areas are in three-year cycles, and the Goal Areas are in two-year cycles. The two-year cycle for the Goal Areas is aligned with the County’s biennial budget process and builds our organization’s capacity in ESJ 'adaptive management.' We incorporate design, management and monitoring to advance our strategies in the various functions of government; then we continuously and systematically adapt and learn. As a government, we have to practice adaptive management to be coordinated and responsive to our communities and employees.

Many of the goals and objectives in this Strategic Plan can and will be pursued with current levels of resourcing and by re-prioritizing. At the same time, some goals and objectives propose system, practice and policy changes that are new, significant, and/or require King County to identify significant new resources for successful implementation. As a result, elements of this Strategic Plan are contingent on appropriate resourcing, including in the biennial budgets. Therefore, the Goal Areas will be implemented using two-year cycles to build our organization’s capacity in ESJ adaptive management as described in the Executive Summary. Departments and agencies will be expected to complete department/agency-level ESJ Strategic Plan Implementation Action Plans by February 2017.