Staff Spotlight – Rachel Dannen

Rachel Dannen

We would like to take this opportunity to spotlight Rachel & wish her well!

In December of 2020, we welcomed Rachel Dannen to our team as our new Racial & Social Justice Intern, a position created to help further the work of our agency’s Racial & Social Justice (RSJ) Committee. We are sad to share that Rachel’s time with us is coming to an end. Although we will miss her dearly, we are incredibly excited for her future.

When Rachel started, she quickly became a critical part of growing our RSJ Committee and furthering our equity work in Spokane. She launched right into helping plan our biggest racial and social justice event of the year, Stand Against Racism. She worked closely with the board committee, helped coordinate panelists, and gather community feedback. All of which helped prepare her for bringing Stand Against Racism back in person this past April.

Rachel has also helped to further our work and mission through her contributions to our blog and social media channels. A few highlights include Rachel’s creation of our Racial and Social Justice Facebook Group, RSJ Partner Spotlight series, support with this year’s Equity Challenge, and the creation of our 2021 & 2022 Voter Resource Guide.

Explore Other Recent Blog Posts By Rachel:

• Support for Survivors in Court
• Follow Up on Dobbs v. Jackson
• Supporting LGBT+ Youth
• Facing the Legacy of Redlining in Spokane
• Black History Month 2022
• Missing and Murdered Indigenous
• Washington’s New Police Accountability Reforms

With the formation of the department of Community Engagement at the start of 2022, Rachel’s duties expanded and she became the Community Engagement Associate. We are so appreciative of the energy, effort, and enthusiasm Rachel has shown for this work. She has shaped the direction of our racial equity and social justice work and expanded our efforts beyond expectation. She champions and lives out our mission of eliminating racism and empowering women and we couldn’t be more grateful to have her as a part of our team. We are excited to see what she does next!

Thank you Rachel for all you have done for our team at YWCA Spokane and for our community!