Regional Culture & Diversity

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The central Puget Sound region is a diverse and welcoming place, home to workers, students, and business owners from around the world. This diversity is a major asset when looking to attract talent to the region and a diversity of perspectives helps drive the region’s innovation economy. In addition, the region is home to nine federally recognized Tribes and other Native peoples who provide a foundation for the region’s culture. These regional Tribes contribute to economic prosperity in many ways beyond cultural enrichment, including direct employment, government revenue generation, land and resource management, and placemaking. Future economic success will require that the region continue to support and promote the strength of the region’s diverse people and the economic value that they bring.

Challenges and Opportunities

The region has identified the following key issues, opportunities, and challenges in sustaining the region’s economy:

A welcoming region that attracts global talent and investment

The region’s diversity is a major asset essential to making the economy thrive, helping globally competitive industries attract top talent from around the world.

Diverse perspectives foster greater economic output

Cultural diversity is a strength and has a positive influence on economic development in the region, helping to fuel the region’s innovative economy.

(New/Expanded) Regional Tribes play an important and unique role in the regional economy

The region is home to nine federally recognized Tribes and other Native peoples, each of which contribute to economic prosperity in many ways, including direct employment, government revenue generation, land and resource management, cultural enrichment, and placemaking.

Strategic Response

The region has identified the following strategic focus areas for addressing identified challenges and opportunities:

Embrace, celebrate, and promote the diversity of the region’s people

The region must work to actively maintain and promote itself as a welcoming place, embracing and celebrating diversity and social justice as fundamental values, as an essential element to the region’s economic success.

Identified near-term actions:

  • Encourage federal immigration, foreign worker, and visitor policies that recognize the talent requirements and opportunities of regional businesses.
  • Encourage regional leaders to support and defend protections against discrimination based on religion, ethnicity or national origin, sex, race, disability, and sexual orientation.
  • Support policies and practices that promote tolerant, safe, inclusive, and equitable communities.
  • Encourage dialogue on race and social justice that strengthens community policing and respects diverse community backgrounds and attitudes.
  • Coordinate with regional Tribes to identify ways to support their economic development efforts including addressing housing, infrastructure, financing, education and workforce development, and energy and water sovereignty.
  • Elevate stories of BIPOC, immigrant and women-owned businesses in the region to recruit entrepreneurs to start new businesses in the greater Seattle area.

The central Puget Sound region is a diverse and welcoming place, home to workers, students, and business owners from around the world. This diversity is a major asset when looking to attract talent to the region and a diversity of perspectives helps drive the region’s innovation economy. In addition, the region is home to nine federally recognized Tribes and other Native peoples who provide a foundation for the region’s culture. These regional Tribes contribute to economic prosperity in many ways beyond cultural enrichment, including direct employment, government revenue generation, land and resource management, and placemaking. Future economic success will require that the region continue to support and promote the strength of the region’s diverse people and the economic value that they bring.

Challenges and Opportunities

The region has identified the following key issues, opportunities, and challenges in sustaining the region’s economy:

A welcoming region that attracts global talent and investment

The region’s diversity is a major asset essential to making the economy thrive, helping globally competitive industries attract top talent from around the world.

Diverse perspectives foster greater economic output

Cultural diversity is a strength and has a positive influence on economic development in the region, helping to fuel the region’s innovative economy.

(New/Expanded) Regional Tribes play an important and unique role in the regional economy

The region is home to nine federally recognized Tribes and other Native peoples, each of which contribute to economic prosperity in many ways, including direct employment, government revenue generation, land and resource management, cultural enrichment, and placemaking.

Strategic Response

The region has identified the following strategic focus areas for addressing identified challenges and opportunities:

Embrace, celebrate, and promote the diversity of the region’s people

The region must work to actively maintain and promote itself as a welcoming place, embracing and celebrating diversity and social justice as fundamental values, as an essential element to the region’s economic success.

Identified near-term actions:

  • Encourage federal immigration, foreign worker, and visitor policies that recognize the talent requirements and opportunities of regional businesses.
  • Encourage regional leaders to support and defend protections against discrimination based on religion, ethnicity or national origin, sex, race, disability, and sexual orientation.
  • Support policies and practices that promote tolerant, safe, inclusive, and equitable communities.
  • Encourage dialogue on race and social justice that strengthens community policing and respects diverse community backgrounds and attitudes.
  • Coordinate with regional Tribes to identify ways to support their economic development efforts including addressing housing, infrastructure, financing, education and workforce development, and energy and water sovereignty.
  • Elevate stories of BIPOC, immigrant and women-owned businesses in the region to recruit entrepreneurs to start new businesses in the greater Seattle area.