{"id":3098,"date":"2025-03-07T11:05:55","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T18:05:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/?p=3098"},"modified":"2025-03-07T12:10:07","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T19:10:07","slug":"preserving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/2025\/03\/07\/preserving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-washington\/","title":{"rendered":"Preserving diversity, equity, and inclusion in Washington"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dear neighbors,<\/p>\n<p>This week, I had the privilege of introducing a <a href=\"https:\/\/lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov\/biennium\/2025-26\/Pdf\/Bills\/Senate%20Resolutions\/8621-Women%20in%20cloud.pdf?q=20250305103834\">Senate resolution<\/a> recognizing the inspiring work of IGNITE Worldwide and Women in Cloud, two Washington-based organizations dedicated to making women more represented in STEM.<\/p>\n<p>IGNITE and Women in Cloud are transforming the landscape of women in STEM. IGNITE lays the foundation that gets our young girls interested in STEM, while Women in Cloud provides essential career support for women already working in the tech industry.<\/p>\n<p>This is meaningful and impactful work that moves us closer to gender equity in STEM. But in the face of a nationwide backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and programs, these organizations and others like them now face immense political and financial challenges doing this work.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3108\" style=\"width: 1317px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3108\" class=\" wp-image-3108\" src=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/03\/20250305_095137aa-1-300x249.jpg\" alt=\"A photograph of Sen. Lisa Wellman (D-Mercer Island) with leaders from IGNITE Worldwide.\" width=\"1307\" height=\"1085\" srcset=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/03\/20250305_095137aa-1-300x249.jpg 300w, https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/03\/20250305_095137aa-1-1024x850.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/03\/20250305_095137aa-1-768x637.jpg 768w, https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/03\/20250305_095137aa-1-1536x1275.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/03\/20250305_095137aa-1.jpg 2045w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1307px) 100vw, 1307px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-3108\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sen. Lisa Wellman (D-Mercer Island) on the floor of the Washington State Senate with leaders from IGNITE Worldwide.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In recent years, we\u2019ve passed a number of bills to strengthen DEI as a core component of our public educational system, from K-12 to higher education:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Requiring all school directors and educational staff to have cultural competency and DEI training.<\/li>\n<li>Ensuring instructional materials used in schools include the histories, contributions, and perspectives of historically marginalized and underrepresented groups.<\/li>\n<li>Requiring school districts to have a gender-inclusive school policy that protects students from discrimination based on their gender identity or gender expression.<\/li>\n<li>Establishing a professional development program on DEI and antiracism for faculty and staff at our colleges and universities.<\/li>\n<li>Requiring public colleges and universities to conduct campus climate assessments and establish DEI programs for students.<\/li>\n<li>Requiring community and technical colleges to develop strategic plans.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I\u2019m proud of the work we\u2019ve done, but there is more to do. As other states pullback from DEI, Washington must remain a place where we celebrate and seek to understand our differences, a place where we make sure everyone has what they need to succeed, and a place where we include everyone.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Mark your calendars: 41<sup>st<\/sup> Legislative District Town Hall<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/event\/41st-ld-town-hall-2025\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-3105 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/03\/41stLD_Town-Hall_2025-300x169.png\" alt=\"A graphic advertising the 41st legislative district town hall on Saturday, March 22, 2025, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. in the U Building at Bellevue College.\" width=\"1292\" height=\"728\" srcset=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/03\/41stLD_Town-Hall_2025-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/03\/41stLD_Town-Hall_2025-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/03\/41stLD_Town-Hall_2025-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/03\/41stLD_Town-Hall_2025-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/03\/41stLD_Town-Hall_2025-2048x1152.png 2048w, https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/03\/41stLD_Town-Hall_2025-847x477.png 847w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1292px) 100vw, 1292px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll be joining my seatmates, Reps. My-Linh Thai and Janice Zahn, for an in-person town hall Saturday, March 22! We\u2019ll be in the U Building at Bellevue College from 10 to 11:30 a.m. This is a great opportunity for constituents to meet their legislators, ask questions, and hear about the work we\u2019re doing in Olympia. I hope to see you there!<\/p>\n<p>Yours in service,<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2803\" src=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2022\/01\/thumbnail_image006-e1643421985953.png\" alt=\"Signature of Sen. Lisa Wellman (D-Mercer island).\" width=\"245\" height=\"108\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear neighbors, This week, I had the privilege of introducing a Senate resolution recognizing the inspiring work of IGNITE Worldwide and Women in Cloud, two Washington-based organizations dedicated to making women more represented in STEM. IGNITE and Women in Cloud are transforming the landscape of women in STEM. IGNITE lays the foundation that gets our young girls interested in STEM, while Women in Cloud provides essential career support for women already working in the tech industry. This is meaningful and impactful work that moves us closer to gender equity in STEM. But in the face of a nationwide backlash against&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":3103,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Preserving diversity, equity, and inclusion in Washington - Sen. Lisa Wellman<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sen. Lisa Wellman discusses how the Washington State Senate is preserving diversity, equity, and inclusion.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/2025\/03\/07\/preserving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-washington\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Preserving diversity, equity, and inclusion in Washington - Sen. Lisa Wellman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sen. Lisa Wellman discusses how the Washington State Senate is preserving diversity, equity, and inclusion.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/2025\/03\/07\/preserving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-washington\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sen. Lisa Wellman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-07T18:05:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-07T19:10:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/03\/20250305_100936aa.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1432\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1025\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"msari\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"msari\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/2025\/03\/07\/preserving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-washington\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/2025\/03\/07\/preserving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-washington\/\",\"name\":\"Preserving diversity, equity, and inclusion in Washington - Sen. Lisa Wellman\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/2025\/03\/07\/preserving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-washington\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/2025\/03\/07\/preserving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-washington\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/03\/20250305_100936aa.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-07T18:05:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-07T19:10:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/#\/schema\/person\/83ac671604bc3543cadcd67b730034e7\"},\"description\":\"Sen. Lisa Wellman discusses how the Washington State Senate is preserving diversity, equity, and inclusion.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/2025\/03\/07\/preserving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-washington\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/2025\/03\/07\/preserving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-washington\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/2025\/03\/07\/preserving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-washington\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/03\/20250305_100936aa.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/03\/20250305_100936aa.jpg\",\"width\":1432,\"height\":1025,\"caption\":\"The Washington State Senate convenes for floor debate. March 5th, 2025.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/2025\/03\/07\/preserving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-washington\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Preserving diversity, equity, and inclusion in Washington\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/\",\"name\":\"Sen. Lisa Wellman\",\"description\":\"Putting People First\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/#\/schema\/person\/83ac671604bc3543cadcd67b730034e7\",\"name\":\"msari\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0248eecebcb70f6cab708cc09bd48f06b4fd50450e50f52a4177145bfac6f9bd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0248eecebcb70f6cab708cc09bd48f06b4fd50450e50f52a4177145bfac6f9bd?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"msari\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/author\/msari\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Preserving diversity, equity, and inclusion in Washington - Sen. Lisa Wellman","description":"Sen. Lisa Wellman discusses how the Washington State Senate is preserving diversity, equity, and inclusion.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/2025\/03\/07\/preserving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-washington\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Preserving diversity, equity, and inclusion in Washington - Sen. Lisa Wellman","og_description":"Sen. Lisa Wellman discusses how the Washington State Senate is preserving diversity, equity, and inclusion.","og_url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/2025\/03\/07\/preserving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-washington\/","og_site_name":"Sen. Lisa Wellman","article_published_time":"2025-03-07T18:05:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-03-07T19:10:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1432,"height":1025,"url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/03\/20250305_100936aa.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"msari","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"msari","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/2025\/03\/07\/preserving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-washington\/","url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/2025\/03\/07\/preserving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-washington\/","name":"Preserving diversity, equity, and inclusion in Washington - Sen. Lisa Wellman","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/2025\/03\/07\/preserving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-washington\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/2025\/03\/07\/preserving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-washington\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/03\/20250305_100936aa.jpg","datePublished":"2025-03-07T18:05:55+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-07T19:10:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/#\/schema\/person\/83ac671604bc3543cadcd67b730034e7"},"description":"Sen. Lisa Wellman discusses how the Washington State Senate is preserving diversity, equity, and inclusion.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/2025\/03\/07\/preserving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-washington\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/2025\/03\/07\/preserving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-washington\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/2025\/03\/07\/preserving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-washington\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/03\/20250305_100936aa.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/03\/20250305_100936aa.jpg","width":1432,"height":1025,"caption":"The Washington State Senate convenes for floor debate. March 5th, 2025."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/2025\/03\/07\/preserving-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-in-washington\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Preserving diversity, equity, and inclusion in Washington"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/#website","url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/","name":"Sen. Lisa Wellman","description":"Putting People First","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/#\/schema\/person\/83ac671604bc3543cadcd67b730034e7","name":"msari","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0248eecebcb70f6cab708cc09bd48f06b4fd50450e50f52a4177145bfac6f9bd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0248eecebcb70f6cab708cc09bd48f06b4fd50450e50f52a4177145bfac6f9bd?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"msari"},"url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/author\/msari\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/03\/20250305_100936aa.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3098"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3098\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3110,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3098\/revisions\/3110"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatedemocrats.wa.gov\/wellman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}