Category: Blog

May 29, 2026

Earlier this month, we joined the Southend Transit Justice Coalition for a rally and march demanding Sound Transit follow through on its commitment to build the Graham Street and Boeing Access Road light rail stations. Our connection to this fight goes back to 2018, where Puget Sound Sage led a community visioning process around the future Graham Street Station. For several years, we worked alongside residents, community organizations, and cultural institutions to imagine what equitable, community-rooted development could look like, and the  Graham Street Neighborhood Vision now serves as a community-owned roadmap that ensures future growth around the station reflects the needs, culture, and priorities of those who call the Southend home.

At the rally, community members and elected leaders gathered at the Rainier BBQ lot — light rail tracks visible in the background — with one clear message: South Seattle has waited long enough. Afterwards we marched along MLK Jr. Way to the Filipino Community Center, one of several cultural anchors near the planned Graham Street Station. Institutions like the Filipino Community Center, Cham Refugee Community, and Co Lam Pagoda are vital hubs for BIPOC communities across the Southend, yet they sit in the middle of a massive transit gap between the two nearest Link stations. For the elders and working families who rely on these spaces, the absence of a Graham Street Station is a longstanding barrier.

Latest Update: We’ve seen real movement since the rally. On May 28, the Sound Transit Board passed an amendment to keep Graham Street Station funded! 🎉 We’re deeply grateful to community members and elders who showed up for public comment in support of the station, and to King County Executive Girmay Zahilay, King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, and Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson for leading the amendment and showing up for the Southend when it mattered most.

April 1, 2026

Big Oil companies have been lobbying Congress for immunity from climate accountability laws and lawsuits. If they succeed, communities would lose access to the courts and the right to recover climate-related costs from the oil and gas companies most responsible for this crisis. Earlier this winter, 350 Seattle, Puget Sound Sage, and over a hundred allies rallied outside the Federal Building before delivering over 4,000 petition signatures demanding Senator Murray protect the people’s ability to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for their role in the climate crisis.

Debolina Banerjee, Sage’s Senior Climate Policy Manager spoke during the rally, “Across Washington and around the world, Black, Brown, Indigenous, rural, and working‑class communities—those least responsible for climate change—are bearing its deadliest consequences. From heatwaves, wildfires, floods, and power outages to rising seas forcing Tribes and island nations from their homelands, the damage is undeniable and growing. Our communities are not disposable, and justice means Big Oil cannot walk away from the harm it has caused. There must be no immunity, only accountability.”

March 31, 2026

This past weekend, thousands of people filled Cal Anderson Park for the No Kings Rally. Sage’s Political Director Aretha Basu and Executive Director Chrissy Shimizu both took the stage and spoke to the urgency of this moment and the power of organized communities to meet it.

Chrissy shared about Puget Sound Sage’s deep roots in the Chinatown International District and what it means to organize the neighborhood to remain a welcoming home to working class immigrant families. “We know from our siblings fighting in Minneapolis, Chicago, Portland, and LA that it is not the politicians and their promises — and not the cops — who keep us safe, but our neighbors and everyday organized people, who are the heartbeat and backbone of community defense. A perfect policy will not save us, only our organized communities will. Block by block we must declare our neighborhoods ICE-Free Zones.”

Aretha called out an urgent threat: Washington State is sharing Department of Licensing (DOL) data including license plate numbers and home addresses with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE, making it easier for federal agents to target our neighbors. She urged the crowd to call on Governor Ferguson to stop the DOL data share and reminded them that the forces we’re up against are not permanent, “While the presence of ICE and detention centers feels enormous and too big to challenge, we have to remember that the Department of Homeland Security wasn’t created until the early 2000s in the aftermath of 9/11. If DHS can be created in our lifetime, it can be abolished in our lifetime.”

They closed with a charge to the crowd: “This march cannot be where your action begins and ends,” and encouraged protesters to plug into the grassroots organizing already happening across the city. “When we say block by block, we mean that every neighbor, every worker, every community member has a duty to keep one another safe by organizing in both the big and small ways.”

✅ What You Can Do Right Now:

• Call Governor Ferguson and demand he stop the DOL data share with DHS and ICE
• Find our ICE Free Zone toolkit here and adapt it for your neighborhood

March 13, 2026

I am writing to share some personal news regarding the next stage of my journey. On April 10th, I will step down as Executive Director of Puget Sound Sage and Sage Leaders. Leading this organization over the past five years has been an incredible honor. I’m deeply proud of what we have built together; an organization rooted in community, guided by shared values, and clear in its purpose.

Sage’s strength has never rested on any single person. It lives in the collective leadership, sustained relationships, and community trust built over two decades. I feel immense pride reflecting on what we’ve accomplished together:

• Building grassroots power in the Chinatown-International District, through years of deep community organizing to ensure our neighborhood remains a home for working class and immigrant communities for the #Next100Years.
• Securing $13 million in funding for the King County Equitable Development Initiative by building a strong coalition of community organizations advocating for sustained funding that supports anti-displacement development projects in years to come.
• Organizing 250 community members through our first Neighborhood ICE-Free Zone training, canvassing 20 neighborhoods across King County and connecting with more than 500 neighbors to build organizing infrastructure that is durable and consistent.
• Launching a statewide Make Polluters Pay campaign to require the biggest fossil fuel polluters to pay their fair share for the climate damages in Washington State.

• Training over 170 emerging leaders through the Community Leadership Institute, expanding the program to Clark County in 2022 and Snohomish County in 2026, and celebrating 10 years as one of the most successful boards and commissions placement programs for leaders of color in the state.
• Building statewide leadership infrastructure through Sage Leaders, training more than 300 civic and political leaders and launching the Local Elected Leadership Institute in 2024, supporting first-time elected leaders of color.

The path to this moment has not been easy. I stepped into this role during a period of major organizational transition and in the midst of a global pandemic. During this time, Sage staff organized a union, and together we negotiated two collective bargaining agreements with Workers for a Just Transition.

These conversations were often challenging, but they helped us clarify who we are and what we value. Together we developed an equitable compensation philosophy centered on living wages and invested deeply in workplace culture, political education, collective leadership, and conflict transformation.

This work helped shape Sage’s new five-year strategic plan that directs how we set priorities informed by and accountable to grassroots power. It also nurtured a staff of passionate and talented people, who are deeply committed to each other and ready to throw down at a moment’s notice.

Leading Sage has also shaped me personally. If I’ve learned anything about leadership, it’s this:

• Great leaders don’t need all the answers. They ask the right questions and bring the right people together.
• Leadership means making space for others, where people feel empowered to make decisions and deeply connected to what we are building together.
• Staying grounded in principles takes time, constant communication, and continually assessing the compromises, challenges, and limitations of the nonprofit sector in movement building.
• Be brave enough to lead even when the path forward is uncertain

Most importantly, I learned that authenticity matters. As a woman of color in leadership, I carried a lot of pressure to show up in ways that didn’t feel like me. Letting that go—and leading as my full self—was one of the most important lessons of this journey.

As for what’s next, I’ll be just around the corner, literally. I will be joining the Wing Luke Museum as their next Executive Director. I feel incredibly fortunate that my path will continue to intersect with Sage’s work in coalition and partnership just a few blocks away in the Chinatown-International District.

There is much more to say than any letter can hold. Instead, we hope you’ll join us in celebration.

Please join us for a Community Celebration on Friday, April 3rd at the CID Community Center! Expect music, arts & crafts, goodbye toasts, maybe a few tears, and of course delicious food from Bananas Grill.

“Workers for a Just Transition is immensely grateful to Chrissy for her work at Sage. Her wisdom, leadership, and partnership have cultivated a sustainable workplace where we are all proud of the work we do. We all wish you well, Chrissy, and we look forward to our collaborations in the community!” – Philip Pantaleo, Workers for a Just Transition Union

“We are deeply grateful for Chrissy’s leadership over the past five years and the care, vision, and commitment she has brought to Sage. This organization has always been built on strong relationships, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with Chrissy. At the same time, we feel confident in the strength of our staff and the broader network that sustains this work as Sage enters this next chapter. We look forward to sharing more about the path ahead.” –Tiffany Mendoza, Board President of Sage Leaders

As I close this chapter, I maintain the unshakeable belief that collective power creates transformative change. Thank you for walking alongside Sage—and alongside me—over the past five years.

Onward, together,
Chrissy 💕

February 16, 2026

Since 2022, Puget Sound Sage has been organizing Seattle’s Chinatown-International District (CID) to ensure the historic neighborhood remains home for working class and immigrant communities for the #Next100years. Over the last several years we have held political teach-ins, public walking tours, movie nights, residential meetings, community assemblies and visioning workshops with elders, local businesses, youth, and families all over the neighborhood. Our elders even led the organizing during public comment hearings with Sound Transit last summer, urging officials to approve the North-South CID station location which will ultimately create opportunities for the CID to build more affordable housing, community gathering places and green spaces.

Today our neighborhood – and our city – faces an ongoing threat.

Already our region is experiencing increasing attacks from immigration enforcement agents, and community groups have been mobilizing to respond to ICE sightings and detentions. With Seattle preparing to host the World Cup this summer, we know FIFA will come with a substantial increase in federal presence and surveillance in the CID where the stadiums are right next to. This news has permeated a sense of danger and anxiety for many of our community members, and as an organization that is deeply invested in the safety of our neighbors, we developed an ICE-Free Zone Toolkit containing non-cooperation pledges for residents, local businesses and workers as well as posters our neighbors can display on their windows telling ICE agents that they are not welcome here.

We don’t have to wait for the City or County to enact policy protecting us from ICE, we ourselves can declare our neighborhoods ICE-Free Zones.

We believe community members are the eyes and ears of the neighborhood and the first line of defense against ICE. They are often the first people to respond and are best situated to support their neighbors. We share our toolkit in the hopes that other neighborhoods across the region adapt it to their needs and use it to support organizing in their own communities. Support this important work by making a donation today!

An organized neighborhood is an ICE-Free Zone.

Sage partnered with Whose Streets? Our Streets! to hold a workshop on Creating Neighborhood ICE-Free Zones on the morning of the MLK Day Rally. Over 80 people from across King County packed inside a classroom at Garfield High School where they heard from Sage organizers and elders who shared their own experiences talking to neighbors in the CID about non-cooperation with ICE. Community leaders from the Central District, Tukwila and Kent also spoke about how their communities have responded to ICE presence in their own neighborhoods.

The following Sunday we invited community members to set up ICE-Free neighborhood groups of their own and held a public Canvassing 101 Training, intending to support even more people across the County to engage deeply with their neighbors. This was the day after Alex Pretti was executed in broad daylight by ICE in Minneapolis. More than 250 people showed up to the training – an unprecedented amount we did not expect, so much so that we ran out of chairs – illustrating the palpable anger and fear we have all been feeling living in this country. Shortly after the training, people went on to canvas in their neighborhoods with the printouts and supplies provided from our toolkit.

Overall, we canvassed over 20 neighborhoods across King County that day, meaningfully connecting with more than 500 neighbors. We talked to small businesses, residents, workers, and families, most of which went on to sign up to be part of their own neighborhood organizing groups.*

There are many ways to support community members and defend against ICE intrusion and Federal presence.

We recognize the brilliance and courage of many individuals, workers, students, and impacted people who have been coming out of their homes, knocking on doors, organizing and leading the way. We believe that a decentralized strategy is our best defense. It is in this spirit that we offer our own experiences organizing in the Chinatown-International District – a neighborhood with diverse views and lived experiences – to serve as a resource and source of inspiration to facilitate deeper relationship-building among people within their own communities. When ICE comes to our neighborhoods, our people will be organized and equipped with tools and information to protect one another.

Support this critical work by making a donation to Puget Sound Sage today! There are many emergent needs, including translation, community toolkits, printing costs for posters and fliers for small businesses, and more. Your support ensures communities have the tools, training, and resources needed to stand together across our neighborhoods and fight for this future.

Our goal is to continue facilitating these workshops to equip community members across the region with the skills, framework and tools to talk to their neighbors, move perspectives, and create places where all of us – especially our immigrant neighbors – feel welcome and safe. Sign up here to receive alerts, updates, and upcoming training opportunities to organize neighborhood ICE-Free Zones!

*We provide training, tools, and educational resources to support community groups in developing their own independent work. These groups operate autonomously and are not affiliated with, governed by, or directed by our organization. We do not oversee their activities or communications and are not responsible for their decisions, actions, or representations.

July 31, 2025

I helped lead the campaign to win a Seattle Green New Deal (GND) in 2019, a groundbreaking legislation that brought community together with union and climate leaders as part of a national movement. I helped craft the Council legislation that established a new Oversight Board, which included allocating seats for community, labor and climate representatives. I was appointed by City Council afterwards and I served on the board from 2021-2025

Why is the Oversight Board Important? The Oversight Board was created to help City officials figure out how policy and public investment can have immediate benefit for workers and communities hit hard by climate change. The Board serves a critical role in centering frontline community voices in Seattle’s goal to greatly reduce emissions by 2030, in ways that also tackle racial, social, and economic inequities.  

We do this by 1) telling the Mayor and Council which policies and budget priorities are most strategic for the GND goals, 2) advising City departments on planning and implementation of City climate programs, and 3) coordinating efforts between City staff who work on climate investments, and between related advisory groups. 

Serving on the board gave me an amazing opportunity to work directly with community and labor leaders who were on the Board, help drive City budgetary and policy decisions that impact our communities first and most, and model “co-governance” which centers frontline communities in the policymaking process from the very beginning.  

Every board will be different, based on who is at the table and the values they bring, but I hope the lessons I learned can be helpful to anyone serving on any board currently or in the future. Below are some of those lessons: 

Constant Communication. City budget decisions and policy move fast, while community input is often slow and deliberate. For that reason, we had to stay in constant dialogue with both City officials and our community stakeholders to move priorities forward – both in meetings and out of meetings. 

Transparency & Information Access. Board members who represent their communities rely heavily on timely access to information from the City, such as economic forecasts and budget information. As such, we constantly requested information and insights from city staff, not to bog them down, but to help us be effective. 

Community Representation. Board members come from a diverse array of communities and hold multiple identities. It is critical that everyone brings their own lived experience as well as their communities’ priorities into the Board’s policy work. Members need to have a pulse on their communities’ issue areas so they can bring information to the rest of the Board that is direct and based on lived experience.  

Legacy Stewardship. For community, boards are critical in holding elected officials accountable for their promise of inclusive governance – a role that only we can ensure works. In the case of the Green New Deal Oversight Board, Council sincerely created it to help them be more effective, informed, and responsive to the communities most harmed by climate and environmental policies. It is important to recognize the hard-fought history behind the board’s creation and our duty to remain active and ambitious, and it is up to future generations of board members to carry that torch. 

As an outgoing member and co-visionary of the Green New Deal and Environmental Justice-Climate Justice movement, I urge community leaders and future board members to build a strong, united front across community, labor, and climate. Stand in solidarity and always center the voices of the communities most impacted over generations.