Get To Know Inatai | Our Team | Identity

How we identify

At Inatai Foundation, we believe it is important to recruit, hire, and support staff and board members who are representative of the diverse communities we serve. Our multifaceted identities and experiences inform and strengthen our work as a foundation.

We also believe it is important to hold ourselves accountable by showing the identities represented within our organization and shedding light on opportunities to deepen our efforts. As a funder, we ask grant and sponsorship applicants to share demographic information about their board and staff, and endeavor to hold ourselves to the same expectations.

We asked our current staff (which included 36 people at the time) to complete an open-ended survey to share more about their identities and lived experiences. The survey results were collected (anonymously) and are compiled and presented here. We will keep updating this information as we continue to grow.

Staff identify as the following races

Twenty-nine of our 36 current team members identify as people of color.

African American (one)
American Indian (two, including one who identifies as multiracial)
Alaskan Native (one who identifies as multiracial)
Asian (one)
Asian American (one)
Black (eight, including two who identify as multiracial)
Caucasian/White (ten, including four who identify as multiracial)
East Asian (three, including one who identifies as multiracial)
Latina (one)
Latino (two)
Latinx (five)
Middle Eastern (one who identifies as multiracial)
Native American (one)
Pacific Islander (two who identify as multiracial)
South Asian (one)
Southeast Asian (two)

Staff identify as the following ethnicities

Tlingit (one who identifies with multiple ethnicities)
Chinese (five, including one who identifies with multiple ethnicities)
Chinook (one)
Dravidian (one)
Eritrean (one)
Slavic (one who identifies with multiple ethnicities)
English (two who identify with multiple ethnicities)
Afro-Caribbean (one who identifies with multiple ethnicities)
African American (two)
Ghanaian (one who identifies with multiple ethnicities)
Irish (two who identify with multiple ethnicities)
Dutch (one who identifies with multiple ethnicities)
Alaskan Native (one who identifies with multiple ethnicities)
American (four)
Guatemalan (one)
Filipina (one who identifies with multiple ethnicities)
Welsh (one who identifies with multiple ethnicities)
Korean (one who identifies with multiple ethnicities)
Portuguese (two who identify with multiple ethnicities)
Italian (one who identifies with multiple ethnicities)
Libyan (one)
Mexican (seven, including one who identifies with multiple ethnicities)
Salvadorean (one)
South American/Bolivian (one)
German (two who identify with multiple ethnicities)
Scottish (one who identifies with multiple ethnicities)
Samoan (one who identifies with multiple ethnicities)
White (one who identifies with multiple ethnicities)
Taiwanese (one)
Vietnamese (two)

Immigrant Experience

Seven staff identify as immigrants, from Taiwan, Portugal, India, México, Mozambique, Eritrea, and China.

Twenty staff have immigrant family members or come from an immigrant family, from México, Ireland, Bolivia, Eritrea, Guatemala, El Salvador, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, England, South Korea, China, Libya.

Refugee Experience

No staff identify as refugees themselves. Four staff have family members who identify as refugees, from Libya, Eritrea, and Vietnam.

Public Assistance

Sixteen staff have used public assistance before, including but not limited to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
Twenty-three staff were raised in families or households who used public assistance.

Court-Affected

One staff considers themselves court-affected (formerly incarcerated, under parole, paying court debt, etc.).
One staff is the child of an incarcerated person.

Disability

Eight staff identify as being disabled or having a disability.
One person has a disability but does not identify as a disabled person.
Disabilities shared include hard of hearing, hard of hearing/Deaf, clinical depression, anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, partial blindness, ADHD, and learning disability.

Sexual Orientation

Twenty-seven staff identify as straight or heterosexual
Two identify as queer
One identifies as lesbian
One identifies as not straight
Five identify as gay

Gender Identity

Staff identify as female (two), non-binary (one), women (two), men (three), cisgender women (seventeen), woman and genderqueer (one), and cisgender men (eleven).

Age

Nine staff are younger than 30 years old
Fourteen staff are in their 30s
Ten staff are in their 40s
Five staff are in their 50s.

Households

Staff describe their households as: single, single family, single parent, married with no children, two-person, two-person with dog, domestic partnership, multi-generational, non-married/partnered, same-sex married, sometimes with parents/sometimes with partner, and two-parent with children.

Sixteen staff are renters. Twenty-two staff are homeowners.

Grew up

Staff members grew up in the following places:

Papua New Guinea
Cuba
Puerto Rico
Alaska
Washington
Oregon
Alger, WA
Bay Area
California
China
El Centro
Federal Way, Washington
India
Australia
Tampa, Florida
Houston, Texas
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Seattle, Washington
Pasco, Washington
Manica, Mozambique
Trafaria, Portugal
Manson, Washington
Southwest Washington
Wenatchee, Washington
Olympia, Washington
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Everett, Washington
Renton, Washington
Spokane, Washington
Tacoma, Washington
Toppenish, Washington
Tri-Cities, Washington
White Center/Burien, Washington
Ohio
America
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Georgia
Portland, Oregon
San Jose, California

Currently Consider Home

Staff members currently consider the following places home:

Central Washington
China
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Spokane, Washington
Kitsap County, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Portland, Oregon
Georgia
Manson, Washington
United States
Willapa Bay, Washington
San Francisco, California
Shoreline, Washington
Pasco, Washington
Edgewood, Washington
Steilacoom, Washington
Spanaway, Washington
Zillah, Washington
Kaneohe, Hawaii

Formal Education

Two staff members completed some college.
Two staff completed an associate’s degree
Twenty-one staff members completed a bachelor’s degree
Fifteen completed a master’s degree.

First Generation College

Nine staff were the first ones in their family to go to college.
Two staff members had siblings who went to college but whose parents did not.
One staff member was the first female in their family to go to college.

Formal Education of Parents

The level of formal education our staff members’ parents received includes:

Elementary school (three)
Middle school (five)
High school (thirteen)
Associate degree (three)
Technical degree (one)
Some college (one)
Bachelor’s degree (twelve)
Master’s degree (five) or other graduate degree (five)
MD (three) or PhD (two)

Religion and Spirituality

Atheist (one)
Agnostic (seven)
Buddhist (one)
Buddhist-ish (one)
Christian (five)
Catholic, raised (two)
Catholic, practicing (two)
Catholic, non-practicing (three)
Christian, non-denominational (one)
Muslim (one)
Native American Spirituality (one)
None (six)
Spiritual (two)
Spiritual but not religious (one)
Tamanawas, the aboriginal religion of the Chinook/Coast Salish People (one)
Unitarian Universalist (one)