Representative leadership is critical (and possible!) in Washington state

^{Courtesy of Inatai Foundation /}^{inatai.org/reports-overview/our-people-are-everywhere}

In May, Inatai Foundation launched two reports that everyone in Washington state needs to see.

The two reports compare the racial demographic of our population with the amount of representation we have in state and local government. Over half of the counties in Washington state are home to 25% or more people of color, as revealed by the first of these two reports: the Our People Are Everywhere data project. And while local offices currently show the least reflection of this diversity, enthusiasm for diverse candidates is on the rise, according to the second report: Electoral Representation in Washington State.

We spoke with Brenda Anibarro, the Vice President of Learning and Community Engagement at Inatai about the two reports. Anibarro said that the intention of Our People Are Everywhere was mainly to address the pervasive myth that Washington is predominantly white, especially in rural parts of the state:

The genesis of that [project] came from those years when our CEO and I were driving around the state, and folks would say things like, “Our town is so white, and so that's why our organization is white, or that's why our elected officials are all white; that's why it looks the way it does.” And then, we would end up meeting with organizations that were African American or Pacific Islander … so, that really didn’t match what we were seeing.

The study used a full count approach, which is much more accurate than demographic information that uses single race data, since many people are multiracial. Anibarro said that full count data “allows you to actually see a more accurate reflection of the diversity of a community than when you're looking at single race data alone.”

Inatai decided to release the data from Our People Are Everywhere at the same time as the Electoral Representation report to highlight the discrepancy between our state’s steadily increasing diversity and the lack of representation of that diversity in its elected officials. “It's such a stark relief to see that kind of data next to the fact that our county commissions don't reflect our communities,” Anibarro said.

Originally, the intent of these studies was for Inatai to use the data to better inform them internally of what the makeup of Washington’s political office holders looked like. “And then when we saw the data just a few months ago, we [saw that] there were all these uncontested races,” Anibarro said. “Huge opportunities, right?” Inatai knew they had to make the reports accessible to the public.

Inatai Foundation partnered with Washington Community Alliance — a nonprofit organization that works to close the representation gap for people of color — to collect data for the Electoral Representation report. The data looks at gender and age, as well as race. Some of the key findings of this report were that:

Local offices were the most likely to be uncontested (showing the advantage incumbents have once elected), and unchallenged incumbents were disproportionately older, white, and male, compared to their respective constituents.
Campaign financing was highly predictive of a candidate’s success, and older, white, and male candidates received most campaign contributions.
In rural areas with majority-young and Latine/Hispanic populations — such as Benton, Franklin, and Yakima counties — local elected offices remain overwhelmingly held by older, white candidates.

But the study also found that people want to see more diverse candidates running for office. Women and candidates of color tended to receive more money from community members (when they did run for office) than men and white candidates, which suggests that people are enthusiastic to have more diverse leadership; we just need them to run.

“Even just a little bit of money going to candidates makes a big difference,” Anibarro said. “People just aren't aware of how much opportunity there is.” The goal in putting these reports out to the public is mainly to shed light on those opportunities — particularly around local offices, but statewide as well, Anibarro added. “We want people to see how much room there is to actually have folks in political power that reflect the experiences of everyday people.”

While Inatai Foundation doesn’t fund candidates directly, they do support organizations throughout the state who are doing equity justice work in their communities. “Our goal is really to change what it looks like in terms of the landscape of power, because we think the quickest way to get to racial justice is to make sure that our communities have decisionmaking power,” Anibarro said.

To reach that goal, Inatai is shining a light on organizations who are helping their communities by getting more diverse candidates into public office, partly so that other funders will see the work that these organizations are doing across the state. They also provide funding and support to organizations who are doing more direct political work — leadership development, civic education, or otherwise supporting candidates who want to run for political office.

Anibarro said that it’s vital to increase the visibility of minoritized* people in Washington state. “[These] communities have always been a part of making Washington who we are, although they’ve never gotten that credit, and they contribute to it every single day,” she said.

Looking at people of color in the Tri-Cities and their historical and economic contributions, not to mention how vital they are in the agricultural landscape of our state, it’s no wonder that we have local organizations who are working toward governments that are representative of all of our population.

Anibarro wanted to leave us with this thought:

With the Our People Are Everywhere project, when we say “our people”, we don't mean just people of color. We actually mean ALL people in this state who … share that value for racial justice and for equity. We're all in this together, and we're going to need each other to move forward.

*Minoritized people: People treated as less-than (whether or not they are, in fact, members of a minority group) through oppression, erasure, and other subordinating tactics.

Sara Quinn is the Editor-in-Chief at Tumbleweird and serves on the board of Tri-City Area Gaming. She lives with her amazing spouse (Brendan), and her doggos (Jewel and Ruby). Sara makes art, writes stuff, reads A TON, plays a lot of games (board, video, and TTRPG), and makes crossword puzzles.

Sara is a queer, disabled, autistic demigirl. She has a dual degree in psychology and sociology, which she mainly uses to fuel her special interest in human interaction (and to pick her Survivor league lineup). She longs for the day when she will finally learn to relax. ¡Ojalá!

Sources:

Interview (Zoom), Brenda Anibarro. May 16, 2025
Electoral Representation in Washington State: inatai.org/reports-overview/electoral-representation-in-washington-state
Our People Are Everywhere: inatai.org/reports-overview/our-people-are-everywhere
Washington Community Alliance: wacommunityalliance.org