GSBA

What does it take to grow your impact as a leader?

The GSBA LGBTQ+ Leadership Institute is a 10-month, in-person cohort designed for LGBTQ+ and allied leaders to build skills, confidence, and community.

Last year, participants learned alongside leaders like Justice Mary Yu, Deaunte Damper, Danny Cords, and Sam Affinito of Comcast, exploring communication, unconscious bias, influential leadership, core values, feedback, and negotiation.

Applications for the 2027 cohort open September 25. Want to be the first to know? Sign up for the GSBA newsletter so you don’t miss the application updates.

This week, GSBA welcomed Beto Yarce, Executive Director of the Seattle Office of Economic Development, into our office for a conversation about the future of Seattle and the small businesses that make it.

Beto met the GSBA team, we discussed the work our team does across the community, and how we can build a stronger, more focused economic future for Seattle together.

A big part of that conversation centered on Capitol Hill and the opportunity to create more collective momentum around strategic economic growth, stability, and support for small business owners.

This was the start of the conversation, not the end of it. We’re looking forward to seeing the impact Beto and OED make across Seattle, and finding even more ways GSBA can help uplift our small business community through that work.

🎃 You could spend Halloween anywhere. Orrrrrr you could spend it at Seattle’s q***rest celebration of the year with GSBA, 20+ caterers + wineries, and a yodeling do******ix.

We’re spotlighting just a few of the incredible businesses helping make EQUALUX a haunt and a half. 🧑‍🍳 Meet the chefs, chocolatiers, and winemakers bringing bold flavors, creativity, and community to the party.

🍴 That Brown Girl Cooks
Chef Kristi Brown has spent nearly three decades building community through food. Her culinary collective brings bold flavors, culture, and one longtime mantra: “Everybody’s Gotta Eat!”

🍷 Cairdeas Winery
Lake Chelan-based Cairdeas crafts Rhône-inspired wines from Washington fruit. Founders Charlie and Lacey Lybecker have built their winery around friendship, adventure, and hospitality.

🍫 Cocoa Legato
This q***r and Latinx-owned Greenwood chocolate maker creates vegan bean-to-bar chocolate with cacao sourced primarily from Colombia. Each bar is paired with music from a Seattle-based Q***r, female, or BIPOC artist.

🍷 Dalset Wines
Winemaker Even Johansen draws on his Norwegian heritage and third-generation family farm. His wines are made with grapes sourced from heritage vineyards across Washington.

And that’s only a taste of what we have in store for you 👀

🎃 EQUALUX | October 31

The kind of night where you wander through two floors of local art, grab a Seattle Dog, find yourself with a glass of rosé in hand, and somehow end up playing a vintage nickel slot with someone you just met.

Last night, Power Connect filled ArtLove Salon with Seattle’s LGBTQ+ and allied professionals, and we had an absolute blast.

The room was full of familiar faces, new ones, and a few people we haven’t seen in awhile. The floral arrangements from Levasheff Designs gave us just the right amount of grass to touch, the ciders and wine from Slightly Furry and WeRise Wine Bar were perfectly balanced, and the food from The Hall on Occidental and Street Treats were the exact afternoon pick me up we needed to Power through new Connections.

We got to meet GSBA Scholar Arie Humphries, who’s studying cybersecurity and looking for their next opportunity, and watch Affirming Businesses Institute win (we’re only very jealous) a U.S. Bank giveaway basket from Bite Society.

We hope to see y'all at the next one! In the meantime, we're headed to spend our vintage nickel slots wins.

And a big thank you to all of the members and partners who made last night what it was.

Got 90 minutes and a hankering for coffee? ☕️ Us too.

Coffee Talk is this Thursday at Piedmont Cafe Seattle! Come hang with GSBA members, Capitol Hill business owners, and neighbors for a casual morning of coffee and conversation. No agenda. No pressure. Come. Just come.

Thursday, September 17 | 9–10:30 AM

And yes, you can bring your laptop and stick around to co-work afterward.

Seattle is taking a closer look at what it takes to build a stronger, more resilient local economy.

This week, Mayor Katie B. Wilson signed an Executive Order directing a task force to recommend ways to strengthen Seattle’s economy. The action was informed by a new 127-page independent assessment of Seattle’s business climate, including recommendations to ensure Seattle remains an attractive city for businesses and workers.

The Executive Order outlines four areas of action: convening a Resilient Seattle Economy Task Force, developing a Seattle Strategic Initiatives Fund Proposal, expanding opportunities for innovation and local and emerging businesses, and improving permitting pathways and City processes to make it easier to open, operate, and grow a business in Seattle.

GSBA feels this work is an important step toward creating an environment where Seattle’s small businesses can succeed.

Read Mayor Wilson’s Executive Order and the full report to learn more about what’s ahead in the comments.

There’s a lot happening across Seattle, how do you stay informed? 🗞️

GSBA’s newsletters are your direct plug into relevant local news, resources, opportunities, and conversations affecting our community.

🏳️‍🌈 Weekly News & Events: Upcoming events, member news, business resources, opportunities, advocacy, and what’s happening across GSBA.

⚖️ Public Policy Alerts: Policy developments affecting LGBTQ+ people and small businesses, plus opportunities to speak up and get involved.

🎓 Scholarship Fund: Scholar stories and opportunities, fundraising updates, upcoming events, and a closer look at where your support goes.

🛍️ GSBA: Capitol Hill: Neighborhood news, upcoming events, business resources, safety updates, and what’s happening around the Hill.

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