In Response to Allegations of Institutional Racism at Seattle Children’s
To our community of supporters,
The mission of the Auction of Washington Wines (AWW) has always been and continues to be focused on elevating awareness of the Washington wine industry. The success of the Washington wine industry is AWW’s north star, and as an independent non-profit organization, AWW has a responsibility to conduct business with transparency and accountability.
Like you, AWW is concerned about the allegations within the Seattle Children’s hospital system. While we are deeply saddened that it took the departure of Dr. Ben Danielson, a dedicated and well- respected 21-year leader of the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic, to take such actions, we strongly support Seattle Children’s in its efforts to evolve and change for the betterment of society while it launches an independent third- party examination into the hospital system’s race and equity practices. In a statement released last week, Seattle Children’s shared the goal of these actions: “This assessment, along with recommendations for action, will assist Seattle Children’s leadership to accelerate the pace of our existing work to become a truly anti-racist organization.” The leadership of AWW has communicated to Seattle Children’s an expectation that the recommendations for action will be taken seriously and must be implemented with urgency.