The Statewide Poverty Action Network is an anti-poverty advocacy organization located in Seattle, WA.

Through in-person community organizing and policy advocacy, we advance equitable policy solutions for low-income people in Washington state.

Our work starts and ends within Washington communities, through our semi-annual Listening Sessions, ensuring both accountability to and guidance by those most directly impacted by the effects of poverty. In our work, we:

• Develop and advocate for innovative public policy solutions that address the root causes of poverty, promote economic opportunity, and address systemic barriers faced by communities of color;
• Register, educate, and mobilize voters from low-income communities and communities of color;
• Engage community members in advocating for the issues that impact their lives;
• Support grassroots leadership in low-income communities.

We work with community in a few different ways. Monthly, we facilitate and convene two different community advocacy groups (Campaign for Cash and the Poverty Reduction Work Group Steering Committee). Outside of the legislative session, we facilitate Listening Sessions across the state to hear directly from community and organizational partners about access to basic needs and other important issues.

Everyone on our team works to have authentic relationships with the community members we work with closely. This means taking the time to build trust and know the as a whole person. We meet them where they are at and always prioritize community in every part of our work and looking to them to steer our priorities.

Connecting community to systems of change is a large part of our work. During the legislative session we work with people with lived experience to testify and advocate for our policy priorities. We use Listening Sessions to hear directly from community about their experiences and their needs and strive to connect what we hear to policy solutions to address community needs across the state. Another program we've been involved with that connects community to systems of change are Community Assemblies. Through Community Assemblies, community participants with lived expertise work together to identify a community issue and develop potential solutions in collaboration with local non-profit organizations and direct service providers as well as state agency employees whose work related to the issue of focus. Annually, we host a Lobby Day on MLK Day where we convene with hundreds of people from across Washington state and schedule meetings with lawmakers to share about Poverty Action's priorities and other concerns from communities directly to their lawmakers.

Through working with community and learning from their lived experience, we advocate for policy change at the state level. Specifically, we advocate to improve or create policies that directly impact communities living on the lowest incomes in Washington state so that they can meet their basic needs.

Our policy priority areas focus on:
- Basic Needs (improving TANF for families across WA, GBI programs, and WFTC)
- Progressive Revenue (balancing WA's tax code)
- Consumer Protections

2025 Policy Agenda: https://povertyaction.org/2025-policy-agenda/

Preferred: previous experience working with community and people with lived experience in poverty and community organizing

English and any other languages are always helpful!

Submit cover letter and resume to ericaw@povertyaction.org and we will reach out to schedule an interview.