Gathering Collaborative – $25 Million Total in Grants to Address Racism Is A Public Health Crisis

King County declared racism as a public health crisis in 2020, recognizing that governments need to acknowledge and respond by undoing the centuries of harms of systemic racism in our society and equitably invest in dismantling racism and protecting the health and well-being of Black, Indigenous and People of Color so that all communities thrive. Envisioned jointly by community members and King County in August 2021 and launched in March 2022, The Gathering Collaborative is a group of trusted community members who are involved to uplift Black and Indigenous people and their communities – those who are most directly harmed by racism.

The members largely reflect these communities and have lived experience in these communities that they serve, with Executive Dow Constantine, Abigail Echo-Hawk and Dr. Ben Danielson, serving as co-chairs. The Gathering Collaborative is an iterative co-creation effort between King County government and the community.

The Gathering Collaborative community members will collaborate with King County to equitably distribute $25 million that starts to undo the harms of racism compounded by the pandemic, influence the County’s budget cycle and process, and establish a longer-term, multi-generational vision for King County to become an anti-racist government.

Following the declaration of Racism is a Public Health Crisis, King County Council allocated $25 million in general funds to advance equitable economic recovery and racial justice through a community-centered, co-creative grant making processes.

The application portal is now live via King County’s Zoom Grants portal.

We encourage all applicants to read over the Grant Program Overview and the Invitational Document in order to get grounded in this work. Please read these foundational documents that show how the Gathering Collaborative shaped these grants, as well as other important details such as reporting and other legal requirements.

Visit King County’s Zoom Grants portal.

To apply, you must register and sign in with a Zoom Grants login.

You’ll find the following four grant applications. You can also use the search bar.

• General Grant Application – $25M Grants to Start to Address Racism as a Public Health Crisis (View application in PDF form). Application window closes Tuesday, March 28, 2023. 

• Capacity-Building Grants for Community Service Providers Application – $25M Grants to Start to Address Racism as a Public Health Crisis (View application in PDF form). Application window closes Tuesday, March 28, 2023.

• Small Business Grant Application –  $25M Grants to Start to Address Racism as a Public Health Crisis (View application in PDF form). Application window closes Tuesday, March 28, 2023. 

• Physical Infrastructure Grant Application – $25M Grants to Start to Address Racism as a Public Health Crisis (View application in PDF form). Application window closes Tuesday, April 11, 2023.