Access & Accessibility Bench
Access is not a single service or checklist. It is how people find information, use services, apply for jobs, ask for help, and take part in government.
The goal is simple: public services and state workplaces should be easier to access, easier to navigate, and work better for the people they serve. This year, the EQUITY Accessibility team is supporting that goal with two important statewide efforts:
HB 2475 – The Language Access Law
House Bill 2475 (HB 2475), which was passed this year, focuses on language access. This law directs EQUITY to develop clear, consistent guidance for state agencies. This guidance will enable agencies to be consistent in how programs, services, and information are provided in people’s language of preference, including signed languages. EQUITY will also develop a plan to improve the shortage of interpreters in Washington.
Governor Ferguson (he/him) signs SHB 2475 on March 23, 2026. Office of Equity employees Carolyn Cole (she/her), Megan Matthews (she/her), & Patrick Stickney (he/him) are also pictured in attendance.
EO 24-05 – Improving Employment for People with Disabilities
Executive Order 24-05 (EO 24-05) focuses on disability employment in state government. It calls on agencies to reduce barriers in hiring and retention. EO 24-05 works on creating a better workplace culture for people with disabilities. The Office of Equity is creating a statewide plan for EO 24-05 that will help state agencies make their rules, hiring, and daily work more fair and accessible so people with disabilities are included and supported in state jobs.
Together, these efforts move us toward a more consistent and accessible state government. Our work will include working with partners, supporting agencies, and finding gaps. We aim to turn policy into clear tools and guidance.
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Communications Bench
In 2026, the Communications Team hit the ground running.
Since the Immigration Subcabinet was created in September 2025, TraeAnna Holiday (she/her), the Director of EQUITY Communications, was asked to co-lead the Immigration Subcabinet Communications Subcommittee. She co-leads alongside Gigi Zenk (she/her), from the Department of Licensing.
This Subcommittee brings communications leaders from different state agencies together. This group of people collaborate on messaging and how to build better government communication practices. Subscribe to the newsletter Subcabinet Support to learn more! The EQUITY Communications team manages and publishes this newsletter in 10 languages every month.
 Season 3 of Equity in Session launched in February! Watch this series about Washington’s legislative session and the bills we tracked.
Our team has been deepening our communications skills. Vic Vong (they/them) has been learning more about the current and future state of assistive technology. People with disabilities use assistive technology such as screen readers and Braille displays to use their computers and phones to access information. We are excited to invest into learning about assistive devices so we can ensure that our published communications are accessible to everyone.
Cheyenne Jourdan (she/her) attended the Social Media Strategies Summit, and heard from social media strategists across Washington and the country. They shared real-world approaches to creating engaging content, crisis messaging, and community engagement. Tanisha Roberts (she/her) was all over Washington coordinating EQUITY booths at events. Our team walked away with more relationships and education under our belts! We're excited to continue to put these strategies to work for the communities we serve.
 Equity Ain’t Dirty Episode 3 launched this past month! Watch an open conversation between Megan Matthews and her guest, Employment Security Department Commissioner Cami Feek (she/her), on what equity means.
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Community Advisory Board
The Community Advisory Board (CAB) has been making good progress toward its goals. The CAB’s goals include:
- Connecting to the EQUITY team,
- Helping board members get to know each other, and
- Making sure that EQUITY projects fit the interests and skills of CAB members.
From Top Left: Omar Zaragoza, Logan Drummond, Kamilah Keyes-Brown, Sabrina Njoroge, Yonas Fikak, Tychelle Graham-Moskowitz, Jensie Rosenow, Drayton Jackson, Alaura Miller, Yaslin Torres-Pena; Bottom Row from Left: Kara Chung, Victor Loo, Latrice Williams
In the past 6 months, CAB has worked on many projects. CAB gave feedback on the 15 Impact Areas for the Innovation & Impact Bench. They helped create a plan to recruit new board members and took part in participatory budgeting. The CAB learned about the legislative process and how to get involved.
Kara Chung (she/her), Community Advisory Board manager, leads a meeting.
Our relationships are growing. By the end of April, CAB has now met with every bench and Director in EQUITY! That’s a lot of people and a big step towards our goals!
In the future, CAB plans to increase community engagement and help give feedback for the Community Reinvestment Program. We will focus on topics important to our CAB members, such as youth development, juvenile justice, economic justice, and immigration.
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Innovation & Impact Bench
This year the Innovation & Impact Team announced our 2026-2028 priorities. These priorities show how we intend to support Impact Leaders in achieving statewide and agency-specific goals.
We’ve heard a lot from agencies about capacity strain. We announced that EQUITY will not introduce new work.
Instead, we are focusing on the Statewide Impact Areas that reach the most (or all) agencies. We hope that this approach will support agencies in building smooth steps to success. We want to make sure that agencies have the capacity to drive change so that we can achieve our goals together.
Of the fifteen Statewide Impact Areas, we are focusing on four. Our four priorities are:
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Immigration Subcabinet
 The Immigration Subcabinet is a partnership across multiple state agencies. This partnership coordinates how Washington State agencies work together on issues impacting immigrant and refugee communities. This group is led by the Office of Equity and includes agencies such as the Governor’s Office and the Office of Financial Management.
The first subcabinet meeting was held in January 2026. The first report was published this month. You can find the report here.
The Immigration Subcabinet has:
- Supported the implementation of the Keep Washington Working Act.
- Made improvements to the way community concerns are received and responded to.
- Continued to engage directly with community-based organizations, commissions, and partners across the state.
- Elevated current issues.
- Informed coordinated action.
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Operations Bench
The Operations Bench is working to make state contracting easier and more accessible for small businesses. Earlier this year we launched a New Vendor Toolkit. This resource supports small businesses applying for state contracts in the following areas:
 This toolkit brings together existing resources to one location. You can find things like fact sheets, videos, and presentations. This toolkit was developed with OMWBE and the Department of Enterprise Services (DES).
Thanks for helping us share the toolkit and make these resources more accessible to small businesses.
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Policy & Legislative Bench
This year, the Policy & Legislative team has been busy representing the Office in the Legislature. You can learn more about our work during the 2026 legislative session by watching our Equity in Session videos!
A big highlight for our team was the passage of HB 2475. This law gives the Office the job of creating more consistent language access across state agencies. As included in other parts of this newsletter, EQUITY will put this law and others into action.
Now that the legislative session is over, our team is already preparing for next year’s session. Over the next few months, we will meet with legislators to share updates about our work. We will also discuss ideas for new laws and proposals we may ask for next year.
Photo Caption: [from left] Director Megan Matthews (she/her), Director Omar Santana-Gomez (he/him), and Patrick Stickney (he/him) smile for the camera after Megan's confirmation.
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Tribal Relations Bench
Over the past six months, the Tribal Relations Bench has stayed focused on showing up and doing the work. Casey Wynecoop (he/him) will continue his work with our team and is now serving as a Tribal Relations Liaison. We continued visits with tribal nations across Washington. These visits help us build relationships and learn directly from tribal leadership. What we hear helps shape how we move forward.
The Tribal Relations Bench has been working with state partners to improve how we work together. Some parts have taken longer than we hoped, but we are staying focused on trust and relationships. These projects include:
- Early work on artificial intelligence with the Washington State Attorney General’s Office,
- Data work with the Washington State Patrol, and
- Support our Innovation & Impact bench during wildfire response.
We are also updating the tribal consultation manual. The new version adds guidance on informal consultation and tools that agencies can use. The goal is simple: help state employees understand how to work with tribal communities in a better way.
From Left: iisaaksiichaa braine (he/him), Casey Wynecoop (he/him), & Megan Matthews (she/her) attend a National Congress of American Indians Conference in Seattle
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