About the Economic Opportunity Institute

EOI is an independent, nonpartisan, not-for-profit 501(c)3 research and advocacy organization.  

Our vision is for Washington State to be a national model of economic opportunity – with an economy that truly works for everyone.

Our mission is to equip the public and public decision-makers with the policy research and practical tools they need to embed the values of fairness, care, and opportunity into the foundations of our state’s economy – and thereby support thriving people and communities across the state.

Our core values: The policies we advance are designed to align with our core values: 

• Fairness: Washington’s economy works better for the rich and powerful than it does for everyone else. We advance policies that level the playing field so that we all thrive.
• Care: Life is unpredictable. We advance policies that give Washingtonians what they need to care for themselves and those they love through all the uncertainties of life.
• Opportunity: Not everyone starts from the same place. We advance policies that embed security into the foundations of Washington’s economy, so that every Washingtonian can pursue individual opportunity in their own way within a framework of systemic security.

A commitment to racial equity – the recognition that we cannot be successful in building an economy that works for everyone without addressing structural racism – runs through all our work.

Our theory of change: We believe that if we 

• understand the issues (identify the biggest problems that Washingtonians face in realizing systemic opportunity, and hold ourselves accountable to those closest to those issues) 
• set the agenda (propose specific policy solutions to those problems through a policy vision centered around the core values of fairness, care, and opportunity) 
• build the will (build understanding of and support for our policy vision among the public and public decision-makers by equipping them with policy research and practical tools), and  
• deliver results (work in coalition with others to translate that understanding and support into concrete policy wins by mobilizing alongside the groups we hold ourselves accountable to) 

then we will create a Washington State that is a national model of economic opportunity – with an economy that truly works for everyone.