Partnering with Organizations on the Ground: Washington’s Community Assembly Model

Collaborative governance—or “co-governance”—offers a model for shifting power to ordinary people and rebuilding their trust in government. Co-governance models break down the boundaries between people inside and outside government, allowing community residents and elected officials to work together to design policy and share decision-making power. Cities around the world are experimenting with new forms of co-governance, from New York City’s participatory budgeting process to Paris’s adoption of a permanent citizens’ assembly. More than a one-off transaction or call for public input, successful models of co-governance empower everyday people to participate in the political process in an ongoing way. Co-governance has the potential to revitalize civic engagement, create more responsive and equitable structures for governing, and build channels for Black, brown, rural, and tribal communities to impact policy-making.

Still, co-governance models are not without challenges. The hierarchical and ineffective nature of our current governing structure is difficult to transform. Effective collaboration between communities and politicians requires building lasting relationships that overcome deep distrust in government. So far, effective models of co-governance tend to be local and community-specific—making it critical that we share stories of success and brainstorm ways to scale.

In this series, we share stories of co-governance in practice. For this interview, New America’s Hollie Russon Gilman and Sarah Jacob spoke with Lindsay Morgan Tracy of the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services. This piece pairs with the case study conducted with Faduma Fido, Deric Gruen, and Marcy Bowers, in which they share the on-the-ground perspective of implementing community assemblies in Washington State.

Could you give us some background on the development of the community assemblies occurring in Washington State?

The community assembly model being developed in Washington State emerged from our work on the 10-Year Plan to Dismantle Poverty, a strategic blueprint to increase economic stability, opportunity, and mobility. One of the foundational strategies of the plan calls for creating equal space for people and communities historically excluded from well-being in policy, program, and funding decisions. The creation of the Just Futures Project and the community assembly model they created is one of the ways we are centering community to achieve economic justice in Washington State.

What was the process of getting this work publicly funded?

Strong, trusting relationships between state and community leaders involved with the Economic Justice Alliance and the Environmental Justice Council helped make the case for community assemblies with lawmakers.

In 2021, the governor and legislature dedicated resources to build the Economic Justice Alliance, a multisector, multi-agency collaboration to implement the 10-Year Plan to Dismantle Poverty. The Alliance won a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to seed development of community assemblies with the Just Futures Project and build awareness about the model with partners and decision makers. Together, we were able to make the case for public funding to pilot community assemblies for the first time.

Can you walk us through the story and the relationships that were integral to the process?

In 2020, our team had just released the draft 10-Year Plan. As we were about to embark on a statewide roadshow to gather feedback on the plan, COVID-19 hit. We recognized the opportunity in the crisis to position the 10-Year Plan as a blueprint for a just and equitable economic recovery and emphasize the importance of centering people with lived experience in poverty in the recovery.

We needed funding to support our work to elevate lived experience in state decision-making, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation gave us resources to make our vision a reality. We passed through all of the resources to three community organizations working at the intersection of economic and environmental justice—Statewide Poverty Action Network, Front and Centered, and People’s Economy Lab—and the larger Just Futures Project was born.

The statewide partners that make up Just Futures shared initial feedback that their communities lack clarity about the economy, so we explored new avenues on what a healthy economy is in partnership with government.

The collective effort eventually led to the development of the four cornerstones of co-governance, identified as crucial for a well-being economy. One cornerstone was the community assembly model, which Just Futures extensively researched and adapted from practices in the EU nations and elsewhere. Its purpose was to ensure equity by involving communities often marginalized from decision-making processes.

Despite initial setbacks in securing funding, the Environmental Justice Council funded this work for $2 million in the summer of 2024. This marked a significant milestone in our collective journey from seed funding to a state line item.

Which pot of money does the budget for this comes out of?

Community assemblies are funded by the Climate Commitment Act (CCA), Washington State’s law that requires strong air quality and environmental justice provisions. Utilizing CCA resources makes sense given the relationship of economic and environmental justice to health and well-being.

What do you hope the initial community assembly pilots accomplish? What is the long-term vision?

We hope the initial community assembly pilots accomplish multiple things, but most important are building awareness about the assemblies (both locally and statewide), showing value to decisions makers (not just meetings but a process toward an end goal), and elevating practices of centering communities and individuals who stand to benefit the most from budgets, policies, and programs. Lastly, I hope they receive more funding from the state, from philanthropy, or from investments from Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts from businesses.

The long-tern vision is that assemblies are a part of formal budget and policy processes and utilized by state decision makers, and the community assemblies rebuild or build more trust and faith in our democracy.

I hope the assemblies build participatory decision-making muscle in local communities and create meaningful efforts to increase well-being. I hope that trust is created amongst the assemblies and with government entities. We expect to disagree but hope a healthy dialogue and trust are created through the assembly process to help lawmakers make better decisions.

How do you communicate your mission back to stakeholders and government?

We authentically communicate with stakeholders and government (and others) by focusing on messaging our shared values. For instance, we talk about North Stars of well-being, a common good, or a healthy democracy. We all do better when we all do better. This work could lead to greater collective well-being. When people feel like they can contribute their insights to solving problems in the complex system that we have, it is empowering for them, for the communities, and the state.

Ultimately, it’s about leading with humanity. A rising economic floor benefits businesses, children, and communities. Similarly, a rising environmental floor benefits everyone. However, when either one declines, people suffer.

As you think about other localities who will read this, what advice do you have for people who are inside local government if they’re starting this process?

Listening and taking the time to build relationships is foundational and really believing people when they share their stories. It is a beautiful and challenging process—having trust is essential to getting through the inherent challenges of the work. We have taken the time to celebrate small and big wins, break bread with folks, be joyful with one another, get to know one another and, most importantly, continue to show up even when things get hard.

I’m so incredibly impressed with our partners in Washington State committed to this work. They continue to show up to advance economic justice and it’s been incredible. I hope we inspire other states to so the same.

My advice is to not expect perfection, take time to build the trust and relationships you need, and approach the work with humility. A little grace for one another in work like this goes a long way.

The organizations working on this wanted to move forward with an assembly model that didn’t use a lottery system. Could you expand more on this decision?

The Just Futures model is targeting communities furthest away from decision-making tables to pilot the initial community assemblies and refine the model. As the assembly model matures, if the desire is to expand it to include the lottery system, we would support this. For the time being, the targeted approach is what communities who were a part of the Just Futures Project recommended. We are excited to see what they learn from this approach once the assemblies commence as they have an external evaluator to track and share learnings as they become available.

Oftentimes you hear about this friction between community organizations and government. Can you share what it looks like to create support and rapport with folks on the ground?

Community is often asked to come to government tables, and government needs to reciprocate and go to their tables to do the work with them and not just speak and leave. It’s getting to know who the people are, listening to their stories, and acting on this. Systemic change means government and communities are working together on issues at the same table, and it’s not extractive or performative.

Many in government have a lot of empathy because we’ve been there. We recognize that those living the experiences are the foremost experts, and we also recognize those of us who used to live those experiences and are now in different positions. We honor both perspectives rather than pitting one against the other.

This all starts with building relationships. Then, we dive into the work together, act, change policies and programs, learn as we grow, and do it all over again. We’re here to improve lives of Washingtonians and well-being for all.

We would like to thank Lindsay Morgan Tracy for their incredibly helpful comments and editing support. Thank you also to Kelley Gardner and Maika Moulite for their communications support. This would not have been possible without them.