Topic: Community engagement

  • National Volunteer Month: Western Washington organizations looking for volunteers

    Check out this list to see which opportunities spark your interest!

  • Celebrating 25 years of local community partnerships

    This year would have marked Bill Gates Sr.’s 100th birthday. As the foundation celebrates its own 25th anniversary, there’s no better time to honor the man who ensured our commitment to the Seattle region has remained as steadfast as our global work. To mark these twin milestones, we recently awarded 25 one-time grants of $25,000 […]

  • September 2024: The power of stories

    Meet some of the grantees and organizations in Washington state that are working to support Latino students and families in Washington state.

  • Community engagement grants: 2023 review

    Everyone should have access to the opportunities they need to design the future they want. That core belief drives the Gates Foundation's work around the world and in our home state of Washington, where we work at the local, regional, and state level.

  • Local Data and Outcomes Dashboards

    Drawing on statewide data analyzed in Schoolhouse Washington's Students Experiencing Homelessness report, the Local Data and Outcomes Dashboard enables users to view student homelessness data specific to individual school districts, legislative districts, and counties.

  • Seattle nonprofit leaders reflect on Women’s History Month

    Each year, we celebrate Women's History Month in March in the United States to honor the contributions of women to events in history and modern society. What started as a day-long event has turned into a month-long celebration to ensure that women's important role in history is properly recognized in schools, colleges, and media.

  • 5 Questions with the Seattle Foundation: Community pandemic response & recovery

    Back in 1999, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation made its first grant to Seattle Foundation & creating a $30 million trust that provided matching funds to support the United Way of King County.

  • July 2022 Newsletter: Reflecting on our region’s COVID response

    Back in early 2020 (which feels like a decade ago in pandemic years), it was becoming clear that COVID-19 would hit close to home. Given that the first case of COVID-19 in the United States was in Kirkland, we could feel the storm coming. We couldn't sit on the sidelines, which is why our co-chairs, Bill and Melinda, did't hesitate to approve funding to help our neighbors in Washington state.

  • Honoring Native American Heritage Month

    The Gates Foundation is grateful to call Washington state home. We also honor and recognize the 34 nations who have lived and worked here for more than 10,000 years long before the Gates family established roots in the region. As a philanthropic organization, we have an opportunity to move beyond acknowledgment and move in a direction that puts resources back into the community.

  • November 2021 Newsletter: Honoring the original stewards of Washington’s land

    November is Native American Heritage Month, an important time for us to honor and recognize the 34 nations and tribes who have lived and worked in Washington state for more than 10,000 years.