About Us

vision:

A future in which all young people have the equitable access and support needed to achieve their education and career goals.

Mission:

Northwest Education Access provides comprehensive and individualized support to help low-income young people, ages 16-29, build their own path to higher education and beyond.

Prioritizing a culture of inquiry through an antiracist lens

NW Education Access is on an evolving path of discovery and change in how we are in relationship with each other and our community. Inquiry is at the core of our anti-racism work as we question norms, patterns, power dynamics, and processes.

As part of our work, we are creating more space for our staff to be curious, ask questions, learn from each other, and question the status quo. This has included regular meetings where staff discuss the work we do and implement changes as needed. We have also developed new mechanisms to get valuable input from students and volunteers.

To help operationalize our learnings across the organization, we’ve created our Anti-Racist Team (ART) made up of staff, board, and student representatives.

As a foundational part of our inquiry process, we explicitly examine how white supremacy culture norms show up in our work and have impacted every aspect of our organization, including the students we serve.

We Welcome

All races

All religions and worldviews

All ethnic, cultural, and national backgrounds

All immigration statuses

All sexual orientations

All genders

All abilities

All the intersections of these identities

We Believe

Education is a human right.

Education is a lifelong process.

Every person is the expert on their own life.

Every individual has the right to self-determination.

There is inherent worth and dignity in each human being.

There is power in community and supportive relationships.

Our success is measured by the well-being and success of our students.

Every person deserves an education that meets their individual needs and goals.

Institutional racism and systemic injustices create substantial barriers to access and opportunity.

What we do:

  • Provide personal attention, mentorship, technical assistance, and moral support to low-income young people navigating post-secondary education.

  • Connect low-income young people with information and resources, and support them in creating an individualized plan to meet their higher education goals.

  • Advocate for and with low-income young people, and empower them to develop their own voices as they pursue their higher education.

  • Provide financial resources that help low-income young people access higher education and meet their basic needs while in school.

Why nW education access:

While other college access programs assist students in traditional high schools to transfer directly to higher education, NW Education Access is the only college access organization in Washington State that centers re-engaging out-of-school young people who have encountered significant barriers to completing their high school or college education.

  • Dr. Polly Trout was volunteering to help homeless youth in Seattle’s University District earn GEDs and transition to college, but she found this population encountered a tremendous number of barriers to higher education. Dr. Trout founded Seattle Education Access (SEA) in 2002 as a drop-in center to support homeless and low-income youth to overcome barriers and succeed in college. For the first five years, SEA was an all-volunteer organization.

  • SEA received funding to hire our first full-time, paid Executive Director in 2007.

  • SEA initiated a pilot expansion into South King County to be more accessible to students in areas with high rates of poverty and educational inequity.

  • SEA relocated Education Advocates to partner sites across King County. Today, each Education Advocate is an expert on the educational and social services available in their region. Together, our network of Education Advocates can provide students the opportunity to find the best post-secondary program in King County, and more recently Pierce County, for their unique needs.

  • Seattle Education Access formally changed our name to Northwest Education Access as we had been serving students far beyond Seattle for many years. NW Education Access is continuing its growth into Pierce and Snohomish Counties.

Our History: