The Southwest Washington Equity Coalition (SWEC) was conceived after the 2016 election to address the real fear of racialized violence throughout Southwest Washington and in Clark County. Members of our undocumented community lived in fear as hateful, xenophobic, and racist vitriol became commonplace in daytime media and politics and increases in hostile deportations meant uncertainty for families who made our community a rich and vibrant place to live.
Our community members navigated this heightened need and created a community and coalition to respond to crises with support for each other — and to act in hope. This effort eventually led to the formation of SWEC, initially a formal coalition with a bold purpose: to advance racial equity in Southwest Washington through policy advocacy, institutional change, and inclusive culture-building.
In the years since, we grew from a grassroots, volunteer-led effort into a powerful coalition advancing equity and a force in Southwest Washington for connection and collective transformation, operating as both a hub and a heartbeat for equity-focused work in the region.
In October 2023, we as an organization took a bold step forward and hired our first full-time staff member. This marked a turning point — shifting SWEC from its early momentum into a new era of growth, clarity, and intention.
Today, we’ve grown to a robust team who run several programs:
A six-month program that recruits, trains, and supports emerging leaders of color to serve on municipal boards and commissions
A convening of more than three dozen (majority Clark County-based) organizations committed to advancing racial justice
Additionally, we’ve coordinated advocacy efforts around issues such as: police violence, affordable housing, equitable community development, and more. Most recently, we’ve leveraged our coalition-building expertise to coalesce organizations and individuals of color around several key public policy issues happening in our community, most notably the development of the Comprehensive Plan for both the city of Vancouver and Clark County.
In 2025, we also developed a 501(c)(4) sister organization, the Love and Justice Alliance, which aims to build progressive political power for communities of color and working class white folks in our region through youth organizing, endorsement processes and equitable policy investment.
Today, SWEC is as much a movement as it is an organization — one committed to collective transformation through promoting equity and inclusion in meaningful and collaborative relationships built on trust. Through our efforts, SWEC brings stronger collaboration among existing organizations, and builds on the strengths of our diverse region to dismantle white supremacy culture and support the development of inclusive and just communities.
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