As a public agency, it’s 4Culture’s job to make sure that all King County residents can access our resources and see themselves in the work we do. Deep inequities—especially related to race and geography—persist in our county and world. Too often, they prevent us from reaching all the people and communities we need to serve.

This is why we’re making the critical step of collecting demographic data.

When you log in to our application portal, a demographic update is part of your account profile. You should complete this before you apply for a grant or artist call year. We’re asking organizations to provide demographic information for their staff and boards. We know this may be a challenge—when you log in you’ll find materials to help you as you collect this data.

We also know that providing this data is riskier for people and communities who have historically been persecuted for how they identify. The security of your data is our priority. All 4Culture staff are trained on our data governance policy, and we will never share your information without your consent. A few other important things to know are:

• Your demographic information will not affect your application or funding—we never share it with panelists.
• 4Culture staff will see combined data, not specific answers attached to your name. We can see whether you have submitted a demographic update, but we cannot access its contents.
• These updates are critical in helping us improve. However, you do have the option of selecting “Decline to Answer” for any of the questions.
• We store your data in our secure database—not on workstations or mobile devices.

We’re excited about what this data will allow us to do! As we learn more about who we fund, support, and partner with, we’ll be able to better focus our work. We’ll also be able to better understand King County culture as it evolves. We’re grateful to all our applicants for providing this information—thank you for helping us improve!

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Bart J. Cannon by email at bart.j.cannon@4culture.org or by phone at (206) 263-1584.