About Northwest Resource Associates

Northwest Resource Associates (NWRA) is a nonprofit child welfare organization. Established in 1980 as a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation, we are headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and have offices in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Wasilla, Alaska, and in Portland, Oregon.

Our work is supported by grants and contracts from federal, state, and local government agencies; nonprofit human services agencies, universities and research institutions, foundations, and corporations. We also rely on the generosity of individual donors.

Our vision

All young people have family that nurtures their growth and potential.

Our mission

Northwest Resource Associates designs and delivers programs and technology that empower youth, strengthen families, and improve child welfare systems.

What we do

Family recruitment

We inspire and prepare foster and adoptive families to parent youth living in foster care.

Family support

We support families of all types. We listen and provide information, insight, and connection to services.

Youth engagement

We engage and empower youth to tell their own stories and shape their futures.

Education

We provide both families and child welfare professionals with information and skill-building opportunities like workshops, training, and mentoring.

Digital communication

We design and develop user-centered digital products—including apps, websites, training, and communications—that inspire, inform, and empower.

Our commitment to racial equity

We acknowledge historical and systemic racism within Child Welfare and know that reforming the sector starts with us—as individuals, as programs, as an agency.

Currently, we are working on:

  • Prioritizing racial equity in our strategic plan and all that we do.
  • Developing a racial equity framework for evaluating programs and projects.
  • Developing racial equity objectives for each of our four major programs.
  • Identifying and implementing ways to better support staff of color.
  • Providing staff ongoing training and opportunities to discuss antiracist principles and practices.
  • Identifying policies and practices that will help us increase racial diversity in our organization.

Our values

Collaboration

We believe that the best solutions are collaboratively created and owned. We engage with youth and families, build relationships with child welfare workers, and partner with other organizations to develop effective programs.

Empathy

We approach our work with humility and cultivate compassion by listening to children, teens, and families. Understanding what they are doing, thinking, and feeling helps us focus on what is most important: their needs.

Expertise

We value expertise in all its forms. We honor the lived experience of the youth and families we serve, rely on the deep knowledge of our staff, and respect the insight our partners bring.

Continuous improvement

We consistently seek feedback, listen to those we serve, respond to their input, and pursue equity and inclusion to ensure our programs work with and for those who rely on them.