Social Justice Salon: Responding to the Moment

• Date: Wednesday, October 15, 2025
• Time: 4pm doors | 4:30-6:30pm program
• Location: The Forum at Town Hall Seattle, 1119 8th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 (view map »)
• Price: $0-10; refreshments will be served

Solid Ground’s Social Justice Salons are intimate, in-person community conversations that bring together Solid Ground staff, participants, partners, and local leaders to discuss innovative solutions to community challenges. In Responding to the Moment: Social Justice, Federal Actions, and the Future of Human Services, we’ll bring out into the open the existential conversation currently happening behind closed doors at human services nonprofits and agencies across the country:

• Will the federal government continue to be a reliable partner in meeting the needs of our most vulnerable neighbors?
• What will happen to the communities we serve if the government turns its back on them?
• Does our commitment to anti-racism and social justice – so critical to understanding the challenges we face – also put a target on our backs?
• What will we do if we’re forced to choose between our commitment to our values and our ability to provide critical services to our community?

For our annual Social Justice Salon, Solid Ground is opening up this critical conversation. We’ll bring together community thought leaders from across the worlds of human services and social justice to explore these questions and help us better understand what the future holds for our safety net organizations and the people they serve.

MODERATOR:

Naomi Ishisaka, The Seattle Times

PANELISTS:

• Rhonda Banchero, Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC)
• Shalimar Gonzales, Solid Ground
• Regina Malveaux, United Way of King County
• Estela Ortega, El Centro de la Raza