As a foundation, we channel the funding, influence, and information we have to the leaders and organizations rooted in and led by the communities we answer to, so they have the resources, power, and opportunity they need to bring their visions to life.

The foundation was formed from the proceeds of the sale of Group Health Cooperative to Kaiser Permanente. Our goals were to be statewide, community-oriented, and equity-focused. Our name, “Inatai,” means “across” or “other side.” The word comes from Chinuk Wawa, an Indigenous language from Washington state with a long history of connecting people from different backgrounds. Our name expresses our hope for the future and commitment to Washington communities to achieve equity and racial justice in our state. We offer our appreciation to The Chinook Nation, whose members speak the Chinuk Wawa language, and who granted us permission to use Inatai as our name.

The foundation has grown since formation to include team members across the state working in four distinct areas: relationship building, policy and advocacy, investment management, and grantmaking. Since the foundation began significant grantmaking in 2019, we have awarded $220 million to community organizations. More than 80 percent of the organizations we support are led by people of color.

Funding and resourcing community-led organizations.

Community-led organizations represent the single most important vehicle for harnessing, increasing, and leveraging community power, which is essential for transforming Washington into a fully equitable and racially just state. Our role is to provide flexible, responsive resources that support organizations, networks, and leaders as they work to build power – without holding them back.

Using institutional influence and resources to change policies, structures, and norms across government and civil society.

We are an institution that maintains financial resources, flexibility in political engagement, unique knowledge, and a team of people with deep and varied expertise. Our role is to work with individuals and institutions aligned with community interests and ready to take action in ways that shift the balance of power in Washington. When and where communities are denied power, we use our own direct influence with decision-makers to disrupt the status quo in policymaking, government administration, civil society, philanthropy, and beyond in order to tip the balance of power in communities’ favor.

Providing actionable information in service to community-led organizations and partners.

Our role is to understand and proactively meet community needs for creating, obtaining, sharing, processing, and using actionable information. Actionable information is knowledge and insight in usable form — information communities can use to increase their power, better serve their people, and better influence public attitudes and priorities. The organizations and leaders we serve inform the reports and resources we create. Each piece of actionable information is designed to drive social change and tell truer stories about Washington state communities.