ORDER NO. 2021-05 
AN ORDER OF THE PORT OF SEATTLE COMMISSION 
To direct the Executive Director to allocate up to $2.0 million from the COVID-19 Emergency
Fund to support the Port of Seattle’s 2021 Opportunity Youth Initiative and to exempt all related
contracts from the requirements of Chapter 53.19 RCW. 
ADOPTED 
MAY 11, 2021 
INTRODUCTION 
The mission of the Port of Seattle is to promote economic opportunities and quality of life in the
region by advancing trade, travel, commerce, and job creation in an equitable, accountable and
environmentally responsible manner. The Port’s stewardship of aviation and marine operations,
infrastructure, and environmental assets is essential to Washington State’s economy and quality of
life and is critical to the Port’s ability to fulfill its mission. 
The Port is well-positioned to stimulate economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by
providing short-term workforce development opportunities through accelerated investment in the
preservation, maintenance, and enhancement of Port assets programs, and Port-related economic
activity. Examples  include  habitat  restoration  and  clean  -up  projects  that  support  Port
developments, environmental enhancements, improvements to near-port communities’ quality of
life,  expansion  of  public  art,  training,  and  collaboration  with  regional  partners  to  promote
responsible travel through Port facilities. 
This Order seeks for related programming to be implemented to support the Port’s 2021 
Opportunity Youth Initiative from approximately between the months of June 2021 through
December 2021, pending final negotiations. 

TEXT OF THE ORDER 
The Commission directs the Executive Director to execute workforce development contracts for
Partner in Employment, Seattle Goodwill, Seattle Parks Foundation, and Urban League of
Metropolitan Seattle for up to a total of up to $2,000,000. 
The Commission exercises its authority under RCW 53.19.020(5) to determine that a competitive
solicitation process is not appropriate or cost-effective to address the emergency nature of the
youth facing the highest unemployment rates in King County, among other indicators in King
County. Consist ent with the direction by Commissioners during the May 26, 2020, Commission
meeting, the workforce development contracts will best benefit areas with the highest rate of youth
unemployment, including for Black/Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) youth, and youth in
South Seattle and South King County; create connections with Port industries; enhance the breadth

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               of industries/opportunities; promote career trajectory for students, connecting to another program;
work with organizations that have a strong track record and can deliver solid results; and deliver
more experience and economic benefit to students, achieved through lower overhead. 
The Commission has determined that a competitive process with these four nonprofit organizations
is not appropriate or cost-effective because: 
1.  The Port continues to operate under the State’s Healthy Washington – Roadmap to
Recovery Plan in response to the COVID-19 pandemic with on-going uncertainty. T he
Port’s own road to recovery has had many program and financial adjustments impacting
program delivery.
2.  The organizations have the ability to promptly provide youth opportunities during the
summer months in 2021 in support of workforce development and economic recovery
while the State is under the Roadmap to Recovery phases. Economic recovery continues
to be an urgent need since COVID-19 impacts youth internship opportunities, particularly
for our BIPOC youth community. 
3.  The organizations are operating during the COVID-19 shutdown and are utilizing social
distancing practices, as required in the State’s Roadmap to Recovery plan. 
4.  The  organizations  have  pre-established,  successful workforce  development  programs
supporting youth opportunities serving South King County youth in Port-related industries
allowing for a more reasonable program launch and flexibility should the State change the
Roadmap to Recovery requirements during the program timeframe. 
STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF THE ORDER 
While workers in nearly every sector of Washington’s economy have been adversely affected by
the COVID-19 pandemic, the loss of employment opportunities for low-skilled workers between
16-24 years of age is the most substantial. According to the Washington State Employment
Security Department in 2020, the highest number of claims per capita were workers with a high
school equivalent education or less between the ages of 18-24, living in south Seattle or the south
King County area, and workers of color. 
The pandemic continues to cause significant hardships on people in these demographics. They
were laid-off at higher rates, had fewer employment opportunities, and had fewer career-training
opportunities. For example, opportunities in leisure and hospitality—sectors in which young
people often find employment—represented 42 percent of all job losses in the state. Similarly, the
unemployment rate in King County for February 2021 (5.3%) was more the double the rate for the
same month in 2020 (2.5%). 
2020 Opportunity Youth Initiative Results 
OYI successfully provided internships, valuable income, and job-training for 196 people within
the targeted demographics in 2020. 

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            Demographics 
Interns in OYI programs in 2020 were of the following demographics: 
• 78% were between the ages of 16-19 
• 22% were between the ages of 20-23 
• 93% identified as BIPOC 
• 32% identified as female 
Program Costs 
A total of $1,338,087 program expenditures (89% of the $1.5 million budgeted) funded 196 paid
internships at a rate of $15 per hour, plus wraparound services, program management, and
materials. Had the program been extended an additional one to two months, the Port’s program
partners could have expended the full budgeted amount while producing more and/or longer
internships. 
Educational Benefits 
The program received high marks from its internship-participants: 
• 90% reported learning new skills to help them be successful in finding a job. 
• 81% said they gained an understanding of their future career and/or educational goals and
how to reach them. 
• 87% said they felt more knowledgeable about job opportunities in the industries. 
Demand for OYI Services is Increasing 
Four well-established nonprofits in King County produced OYI internships in 2020—Seattle
Goodwill, Seattle Parks Foundation, Partner in Employment, and the Urban League of
Metropolitan Seattle. Leaders from each of these nonprofits stated to Port staff that they’re eager
to provide comparable programming in 2021 and most of them have had requests from students
and parents inquiring about 2021 opportunities. 
Similarly, Seattle City Councilmember Tammy Morales reached out to Port Commissioners and
staff, asking if the City could contribute to a 2021 iteration of the program, probably using portions
of the City’s allocation of the American Rescue Plan Act. 
Program Implementation 
Facilitated by community-based providers who specialize in employment readiness, cultural
enrichment, mentorship, educational opportunities, and career readiness training in the focus areas
of the Port of Seattle—aviation, maritime, green careers, and construction—the program offers
participants an opportunity to explore career interests and develop work-readiness skills through
learning experiences designed to strengthen civic and leadership abilities. 

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              OYI has specific programmatic elements that must be met by each organization in furtherance of
its workforce development program: 
•   Best benefit areas with the highest rate of youth unemployment for youth of color and
youth in communities most impacted by COVID-19. (Data provided by Seattle-King
County Public Health and the Workforce Development Council); 
•   Connection  with  Port-related  industries—aviation,  maritime,  green  careers,  and
construction; 
•   Career trajectory for students as part of a workforce development program in accordance
with RCW 53.08.245 and the Port’s Workforce Development Resolution and Policy
Directive; 
•   Working with organizations that have established and effective youth internship programs, 
and; 
•   A requirement of financial compensation for interns at a minimum rate of $15/hour. 
Projects  must  provide youth  with  opportunities  to  participate  in  economic  activities  like
occupational job training, placement, advancement, retention, pre-apprenticeship training, or
occupational education programs associated with the Port’s tenants, customers, and local economic
development related to the Port’s tenants or Port-related economic activities. 
Project staff must have at least five years demonstrated experience in education, mentorship,
leadership development, and empowerment of "opportunity youth," which is defined as young
people between the ages of 16 and 24 who are neither enrolled in school nor participating in the
labor market. 
Project staff must have demonstrated cultural competency and possess a strong understanding of
operationalizing racial equity. Project facilitators must evaluate outcomes with quantitative
information including: number of trainees, recruited, placed in jobs, and retained; the types of jobs
and range of compensation; the number and types of businesses that are served; and any other
tangible benefits realized by the Port, workers, businesses, or the public. 
In 2020, the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion created a working group with Port
employees from various departments with expertise in youth employment. A similar working
group will collaborate to oversee the 2021 iteration of the program, as identified below:
• Partner in Employment: This organization has strong ties with communities in South King
County, workforce development, and expertise in youth employment. It is uniquely
equipped and positioned to create solid career paths for incarcerated youth, youth at risk of
entering the juvenile justice system, immigrant populations, and low-income youth within
the South King County area. 


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                 • Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle: This organization will develop, own and operate
housing for the benefit of low-income, homeless and formerly homeless people in
Washington State. This summer both programs will employ youth to help build tiny
cottages for the homeless. These programs are a bridge to link people of color to
apprenticeships or pre-apprentice construction training programs. 
• Seattle Goodwill: This organization has a long history (almost 100 years) of understanding
how to execute student-centered cultural competency within King County. Seattle
Goodwill has three dynamic programs: Youth Maritime Program; Youth Aerospace
Program and Youth at Work which center on professional development designed to help
youth identify their strengths and set goals. Goodwill’s partnerships with various
established organizations helps this program to fast track connecting students with career
opportunities within Port-related industries. 
• Seattle Parks Foundation: This organization will be the cluster lead and fiscal sponsor for
five grass roots organizations in the Duwamish Valley. This funding structure helps smaller
community-based organizations lead by people of color  navigate the governmental
process.  These  programs  will  create  internships  within  maritime,  aerospace,  and
environmental industries. 
The competition waivers are justified on the basis that they will help the Port expeditiously meet
the extremely high need for summer 2021 internships for youth, in particular, the emergency nature
of the continuing skyrocketing BIPOC youth unemployment and secure the limited number of
programs that can meet the specific Port requirements. The Port is continuing its partnership with
organizations that could handle a ramp-up of activities during the pandemic and identified those
groups that could meet our legal, financial, programmatic and emergent issues. Identifying projects
and programs that can advance the Port’s mission, including the creation of short-term internships 
emphasizing this age group, will continue to provide material benefit to the Port as it looks to
maintain, preserve, and enhance the assets and programs of statewide significance necessary to
continue Washington State’s economic recovery in 2021. 
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 
May 11, 2021 Presentation on 2020 Opportunity Youth Initiative Results and 2021 Proposal 






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