Measuring Port Investments in Equity

The Port of Seattle’s budget is both a fiscal and moral document. It should reflect our priorities and values— both to the communities we serve and to ourselves. At the same time, equity is both a process and outcome. But too often, the impact of equity work is hard to quantify.  

With the goal of measuring the impact of our efforts to advance equity, the Port created a new way to track and quantify equity investments. We call it “equity spending.” This tool shows both employees and communities what we’re doing to create fairness, inclusion, and belonging. In a very tangible way, this tool is helping the Port be more transparent and accountable. In short, we’re putting our money where our mouth is.  

What is equity spending? 

Equity spending is a tool for measuring how the Port invests in staff, communities, businesses, projects, and programs that advance equity, diversity, and inclusion. It helps us better understand how our investments are aligned with our values and goals, and it allows us to be transparent about how we are using public resources to advance equity. This tool doesn’t measure the Port’s commitment to equity in its entirety. Not everything can be easily measured by tracking our investments, but it does provide useful information to understand where we are investing and how we can continue to improve.  

How does equity spending work? 

When budgets are drafted, every division in the organization identifies its budget items that are classified as equity spending. To do that, each budget item is put through a two-step process.  

Step 1 — Classifying a budget item as equity spending 

For a budget item to be classified as equity spending it must meet at least one of the three definitions listed below. If a budget item meets at least one of these definitions, then you proceed to Step 2. This step is simply a filter to determine if an item qualifies as equity spending. If it doesn’t meet this definition, then it’s not classified as equity spending.  

A budget item is classified as equity spending if it:  

1. Invests directly in structurally excluded communities through grants, contracts, programs, sponsorships, or dedicated facilities
    
2. Invests in businesses and individuals outside of the Port to help us realize our internal and external equity priorities 
    
3. Invests in Port employees whose essential work functions were designed to primarily focus on advancing equity work 

Step 2 — Categorize equity spending items 

If a budget item meets one of these three definitions, then it is sorted into the most applicable category below. If the item could fit into multiple categories, staff makes their best determination.  

1. Advancing diversity — Increases diversity (race, gender, income, etc.) internally and/or externally  
    
2. Supplier diversity — Builds the capacity of Women and Minority Business Enterprises (WMBEs) or Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs), grows the pool of WMBEs or DBEs, or strengthens the Port’s ability to contract with WMBEs or DBEs  
    
3. Removing systemic barriers — Used to address and change policies, programs, and systems that create disproportionate access to opportunities, information, and services 
    
4. Engagement — Used to engage BIPOC communities or structurally excluded communities 
    
5. Community investments — Invests in BIPOC communities or structurally excluded communities 
    
6. Environmental justice — Addresses or improves environmental issues that disproportionately affect BIPOC or structurally excluded communities 

What’s next? 

We’ve shared it publicly. We’ve created the Equity Spending and Accountability Project (ESAP) dashboard. Now you can see what the Port is investing in and what we’re classifying as budget items that advance equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). 

The Port is also using it to better understand our commitment to equity, the impact of our work, and where we can continue to improve. For instance, in 2023, we spent 3% of our operating budget on projects, programs, staff, businesses, and community organizations that advance equity. This is incredible — and what would it look like if we spent 4%, 5%, or 10%?  

Finally, this is an iterative process. This is the first year the Port is doing this. From the research conducted by Port employees, no other government organization seems to be analyzing and tracking the equity impacts of their budgets. We truly hope to learn, share what we’ve learned, and continue to find creative ways to be a leader and collaborator in this work. 

As an organization, we are continuing to learn how to incorporate an equity lens into our annual budgeting process — to ask tough questions about who is benefiting from our work and who isn’t, who is included, and who is excluded (even if it’s unintentional). We’re building our capacity to embed equity into everything we do. Equity spending is a key part of this, and we hope that by sharing this information and data publicly, that we are transforming the way we communicate, promoting transparency, and holding ourselves accountable to our community, our workforce, and our values.