Unemployment Insurance Navigator program participants reach summit

  • Benefit programs
  • ESD

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Employment Security Department staff and community-based organizations celebrated the renewal of the Unemployment Insurance Navigators program earlier this summer during their third People’s Outreach Summit.

UI Navigator Drivers Union hosted the summit in Tukwila. The purpose was to celebrate the UI Navigators’ recent accomplishments and share information and success stories about working with customers in the program.

Unemployment Insurance Navigator program participants pose for a photo.

Despite a challenging state budget and the absence of federal funding, Washington state legislators recently approved $1 million to fund the program for another fiscal year. This decision will allow community-based organizations, called Navigators, to continue to work with Employment Security to help underserved and marginalized communities affected by persistent poverty and inequality.

Nino Gray, Employment Security’s former community partnership and outreach officer and now a regional director, started the summit with a warm welcome to all attending Navigators:

La Oficina LLC  was unable to attend the summit.

Gray acknowledged the financial challenges that Employment Security and the UI Navigators would face in the coming year. He also recognized how important UI Navigators are — now more than ever — in bridging the gap between government services and underserved communities.

Employment Security Commissioner Cami Feek shared a video to appreciate and recognize the program’s achievements. In the video, Feek recapped the program’s impacts in the past year:

  • Served as a community resource in 58 counties and 288 towns or cities.
  • Provided services in over 40 different languages to claimants.
  • Helped over 7,500 clients, including at least 300 veterans and 145 people who identified as having a disability.

Learn more about the UI Navigators program on the Employment Security website.