Fuse Washington is dedicated to a vision of shared and sustainable prosperity, equity, and justice for all people. Our mission is to achieve progress through government by the people and for the people in Washington state.
We are looking to add new members to our board. We are looking for board members that not only help with the governance and oversight of Fuse Washington, but can also help to strengthen the organization. Some candidates may have more time to dedicate to board tasks, others may bring valuable relationships and networking skills that broaden Fuse’s circle of connections, while some candidates will have expertise or lived experiences that provide additional insight on issues, communities, or strategies important to Fuse’s mission.
Terms run for two years that start at the annual board retreat, an in-person event which will be held on Saturday, February 7th. Those appointed to the board are expected to attend this retreat as their first act of board service. Terms are renewable without limit. Here is a description of board member responsibilities.
To express your interest, please fill out our intake form by December 31st. We will conduct interviews during December and early January. Those we invite to join the board will undergo board orientation in January ahead of the February board retreat.
If you have any questions, please contact board-interest@FuseWashington.org.
About Fuse:
Our strategic goal is to create a more progressive political landscape. We give ordinary people a stronger voice in government and help progressives win important issue and election campaigns more often, in ways that build power for the future.
Fuse Washington is focused on three core capacities
1) Organizing: We mobilize grassroots activists online and offline; we build councils of local leaders in key areas that drive the state’s balance of power. Fuse is also strategically well-positioned to organize coalitions when leveraging collaboration is critical to a campaign’s success.
2) Communications: We deliver stories and messages that move people through new media and the news media. We use values-based communications and storytelling to connect with and move our target audiences. We train other progressive groups and leaders to communicate more effectively and provide communications support to targeted campaigns as well.
3) Political troubleshooting: We provide creative problem solving and rapid response for critical political challenges and opportunities. We dedicate resources to overcoming both the short and long term obstacles to progressive success.
We focus our capacity and resources on achieving the following strategic outcomes that we believe are critical elements of a more progressive political landscape in Washington:
1) Strong & effective progressive activist base
We need to build a strong and geographically diverse base of engaged activists that are motivated to fight for progressive issues and candidates. We will organize to build a more powerful and more effective movement of people actively engaged in achieving a more progressive and just Washington state.
2) Motivated, informed, broader progressive electorate
We know that in order to achieve our political goals we must increase the number of people who are registered, turn out to vote, and support progressive values and issue priorities.
Our communications and campaigns are aimed at increasing the number of people who support and vote for progressive causes and candidates. We are seeking not just effective progressive majorities at the state and local level, but a more equitable electoral system. We want voter turnout that reflects the population who is eligible to vote, and elected leaders who reflect the electorate.
3) Accountable leaders that advance progressive priorities
Elected officials and decision makers who provide leadership and push the limits of what’s possible are critical to progressive success. We will hold decision makers’ feet to the fire when they let voters down, and we will back leaders who fuel progress. Our goals are that state and local elected officials prioritize and pass progressive agendas, and to create a culture of leadership and accountability in Washington’s state and local elected bodies
4) Capacity for overcoming the obstacles to progress
There is always a need for political troubleshooting. We make it a priority to provide short-term rapid response capacity and long-term campaign capacity for tackling strategically important political problems.
Racial Justice:
We believe that racial justice is a fundamental progressive value and that fighting for a just future is both a moral and a practical responsibility. We cannot achieve our goals for social and economic justice without challenging both personal and institutional racism in our country.
People of color are disproportionately impacted by physical, political, legal, economic, and environmental oppression on a daily basis. While some progress has been made, our country and state continue to systemically oppress communities of color as a way to maintain power and privilege for white people. We also recognize that people of color who hold overlapping marginalized identities experience the heaviest burden of oppression.
Fuse is dedicated to changing how we do our work internally and to fighting societal systems of oppression externally. As a predominantly white-led, political organization, we recognize that our role in the movement for racial justice is to work within the political system to prevent further harm to people of color while simultaneously working to change the system. This is in pursuit of our larger goal: A future in which race has no bearing on the quality of life or life outcomes in Washington state.
