COMMISSION 
AGENDA MEMORANDUM                        Item No.          11a 
BRIEFING ITEM                            Date of Meeting     September 14, 2021 
DATE:     September 14, 2021 
TO:        Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director 
FROM:    Alison Beason, Senior Policy Data Analyst, Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion 
SUBJECT:  Equity Index Briefing 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
The Port of Seattle's Equity Index is an open-source interactive map that displays a visual
representation of social and environmental disparities across King County. Using 21 indicators
within four categories, the Equity Index illustrates the degree to which different communities
experience pollution burden and social inequities. The categories were selected in alignment with
Century Agenda Goals and the indicators within each category were identified by a crossdepartmental
working group. 
Across the region there are significant variations in pollution exposure, access to economic
opportunities, and the overall standard of living. The Equity Index was created as a tool for the
Port to understand the variations that exist within the region and use that information to direct
resources towards the areas of greatest need. The Index will be used by staff to equitably guide
funding decisions and broadly inform policy decisions. 
BACKGROUND 
The Equity Index was created with the initial intent to equitably guide funding decisions for the
South King County Fund, serving as a component of the criteria for applications. Beyond the
South King County Fund, the Index will be used to visualize variations in exposure to pollution,
access to economic opportunity, and health outcomes to direct resources towards the areas of
greatest need. The first Equity Index will be published in September and will be updated annually
to provide the accurate data. 
Categories and Indicators 
There are four categories of indicators there were selected in alignment with Century Agenda
Goals. The definitions for these categories were created by a cross-departmental working group. 
The following are the category definitions and Century Agenda Goals they are aligned to:

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Meeting Date: September 14, 2021 

Indicators that demonstrate the opportunity for the creation,
retention, transfer, and accumulation of wealth within a
Definition             community for residents, businesses, and community
Economy                     stakeholders (e.g. poverty rate, median household income,
educational attainment). 
Century Agenda     Goal #3 Responsibly invest in the economic growth of the
Goal                  region and all its communities. 
Indicators that demonstrate a safe and healthy standard of
Definition             living (e.g. housing cost burden, home ownership rate, transit
access). 
Livability 
Goal #6 Be a highly effective public agency. 
Century Agenda
Objective #18 Partner and engage with external stakeholders
Goal 
to build healthy, safe, and equitable communities. 
Indicators that are not necessary for survival but advance the
standard of living in a community so that people of all abilities
Definition             can fully access and participate in public life (e.g. proximity to
Accessibility                          parks and open space, access to healthy food, pedestrian and
bike facilities). 
Century Agenda     Goal #5 Become a model for equity, diversity, and inclusion. 
Goal 
Indicators that represent the health of the environment,
including human-made impacts and bio-physical elements,
Definition 
and thus the vitality of the community (e.g. diesel emissions,
Environment 
risk of toxic release from facilities, traffic density). 
Century Agenda     Goal #4 Be the greenest and most energy efficient port in
Goal                 North America. 
The Equity Index consists of 21 indicators within each of these four categories. The indicators
examine variations in pollution, access to economic opportunity, and a healthy standard of living
across King County. The internal working group selected indicators based on an assessment of
data availability from relevant equity tools created by state and regional governments and the
needs of the Port. The following are the 21 indicators. 
Economy            Livability            Accessibility          Environment 
Poverty rate          Life expectancy       Proximity to          Diesel
Unemployment      High school          parks and open        emissions and
rate                        graduation rate            space                      NOx emissions 
Median           Transit access       Access to          Average annual
household           Access to jobs          healthy food            particulate
income                 by transit             Pedestrian and          matter index
Educational         Crime index            bike facilities           (PM2.5 index) 
attainment            Housing cost          Internet access        Risk of toxic
Jobs density          Home               Voter                  releases from
ownership rate           participation             facilities index 
Traffic density

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Meeting Date: September 14, 2021 

For each of the indicators, a literature review was conducted identifying research that connects
the indicator to equity. 
Ranking Methodology 
The Equity Index displays and ranks individual and combined environmental health and social
indicators. The map shows how a census block group in King County ranks for each indicator for
each of the four categories and for all indicators combined. The individual and combined
indicators are ranked from very low to very high. Communities with the least access to
opportunities and resources are ranked very low (lighter colors on the map), while communities
with the most access to opportunities and resources are ranked very high (darker colors). The
rankings are relative to each other and the comparison is within King County. 
The methodology used to score census block groups is directly leveraged from the Washington
State Environmental Healthy Disparities Map and Kirwan Institute, Ohio State University. Each
indicator is ranked very low to very high corresponding to percentiles. Indicators were then
averaged to result in a score for each of four categories (economy, livability, accessibility, and
environment). 
Implementation 
The Equity Index will be introduced to all Port staff at the September Office of Equity, Diversity, 
and Inclusion Town Hall and will be introduced to the King County community through a public
webinar shortly after. Teams at the Port will be trained on how to use the tool. As the Index is
used for projects, case studies will be developed. The Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
will support staff and the community in using the tool by providing a comprehensive user guide
and opportunities to ask questions about the tool. 
ATTACHMENTS TO THIS BRIEFING 
(1) Presentation slides 
PREVIOUS COMMISION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS 
None.