Commerce unveils new vision to invest in communities statewide
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Refreshed mission, strategic plan and guiding values set direction for agency’s next five years of community-focused investment and service
OLYMPIA, Wash. --- The Washington State Department of Commerce manages more than a $9 billion budget to support communities across Washington. Its programs touch nearly every aspect of daily life, including child care, energy use and more. And communities want and need equitable, consistent access to the agency’s programs and funding.
After more than a year of research, community engagement, and in-depth conversations with employees and partners about how to ensure the agency meets community need, Commerce is launching a refreshed mission, vision, and strategic plan to guide the agency’s next chapter. The plan breaks down barriers between programs and service areas to help the agency unify its approach.
Our vision: A Washington where every community grows through access to opportunities and innovation.
Our mission: Commerce fosters resilient communities by building partnerships, delivering resources, and advancing equity through responsive, transparent, and collaborative public service.
The agency’s new commitment is: Invest. Build. Serve.
Grounded in equity and environmental justice, this new guiding plan reflects Commerce’s history while charting a path toward the future.
“This new plan will serve as our North Star,” said Commerce Interim Director Sarah Clifthorne. “This is our guide for how we can better align internally to ensure better outcomes for the people of Washington state.”
Setting an intentional path
Commerce’s new strategic directions outline the agency’s long-term focus, with goals and action steps that will guide more than 700 employees in serving Washington communities:
Create community-led and equitable impacts: Programs are designed with and for communities and tribal nations, increasing access and using data to improve results.
Strengthen partnerships and public trust: Commerce strengthens trust through transparent communication and accessible tools that improve user experience.
Scale innovative, data-driven solutions: The agency will use data‑informed pilots and models to help reduce disparities and align statewide priorities.
Promote growth: Commerce fosters continuous learning, constructive feedback, and accessible training for staff and community partners.
Improve organizational health: Aligning operations and improving communication help create a workplace rooted in equity, belonging, and respect.
These directions provide a clear roadmap for Commerce as the agency continues helping communities thrive. Commerce is advancing the most urgent needs facing Washington, such as the transition to a clean energy economy, climate resilience, housing supply, and ensuring tribes, local governments, organizations and communities are heard in those processes. The agency administers more than 400 programs and multiple state boards and commissions.
Clifthorne, along with the Director’s Executive Team and the agency’s Executive Leadership Team, will help guide and stabilize the agency as it moves to its future state. Commerce’s diverse portfolio, which has grown and changed in its nearly 50-year history, has sometimes resulted in inconsistent approaches across programs.
In 2025, Commerce’s Community Engagement and Outreach Division led a statewide survey and series of focus groups to better understand how the agency can effectively support communities. That work directly informed the agency’s new plan and guiding principles. More than 4,000 people participated, representing nonprofits, local governments, businesses, community organizations and individuals from every county in Washington.
“The feedback was clear — our processes around funding opportunities had become too complicated, particularly for small organizations to navigate,” said Commerce Chief Operating Officer Daniel Narvaez Zavala of the survey and community engagement results. “This strategic plan guides our work forward together and forges a new culture of cross divisional collaboration that is transparent, accountable, and rooted in equity."
Commerce currently has more than $45 million in available funding opportunities. For more information, go to commerce.wa.gov.
