WELCOME TO THE RENTON INNOVATION ZONE PARTNERSHIP!
Celebrating 7 Years of Community, Partnership, and Impact!
sunsetting The RIZP
Renton Innovation Zone Partnership (RIZP) leaders and RVC’s Miko Pugal share reflections on the RIZP's journey, their impact, and what it means to sunset an organization with care and community at the center!
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A PLACE CALLED RIZ
We serve students, parents, and families who reside in the Renton Innovation Zone.
The Renton Innovation Zone Partnership (RIZP) was created in 2017 with a simple but powerful goal to advance equity and create healthy learning opportunities for children in Skyway and the Renton Highlands. Together with families, schools, and community partners, we focused on early learning, meeting basic needs, supporting middle school transitions, and building meaningful family and community engagement. Our work reached students and families at Lakeridge Elementary, Campbell Hill Elementary, Bryn Mawr Elementary, Highlands Elementary, and Dimmitt Middle School; most of whom are families of color living in unincorporated King County, and showed incredible resilience despite limited resources. We served students, parents, and families who lived in this geographic area, also known as the Renton Innovation Zone (RIZ).
In 2019, RIZP partnered with RVC Seattle as our fiscal sponsor, which helped expand our reach and deepen our impact.
As our mission grew, RIZP found itself leading an effort to meet urgent basic needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. From this work, the Skyway Resource Center was born, a hub created by RIZP’s Basic Needs Action Team to connect families with essential services and community resources. In 2024, this vision transitioned to Skyway Coalition, who now leads and operates the Skyway Resource Center, carrying forward what our team, including community leaders Ryan Quigtar, Christabel Fowler, and Jasmine RaeLynn, helped bring to life.
On October 30, 2025, the RIZP strategically sunset, but the spirit of our work continues through the partnerships, programs, and community we built together.
We invite you to explore this website to learn more about our story, our impact, and the legacy of the RIZ Partnership!
Basic Needs
Action Team
We worked to improve services that met our community’s basic needs by building organizational capacity, supporting families, and focusing on eviction prevention. From this effort, we proudly established the Skyway Resource Center, a bi-weekly resource center that evolved into a brick-and-mortar building.
Early Learning
Action Team
We focused on expanding access to high-quality early learning experiences by strengthening kindergarten readiness, offering translation and family support, and building connections between early learning providers and schools. Along the way, we created co-learning spaces for families and provided professional development opportunities to support children’s success.
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RIZP was created by many community based organizations local to the Skyway and Renton Highlands neighborhoods. From that perspective, it was important to keep our approach and strategies grounded in community, with pathways for many voices to shape what is happening now and next.
Middle School Transition
Action Team
We supported the academic, social, and emotional needs of students and families as they transitioned from elementary to middle school by gathering feedback, fostering relationships, and building bridges between students. Signature programs like Spring Bling grew out of these efforts.
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SUMMERS IN SKYWAY. OUR SUMMER LEARNING PROGRAM
sUMMERS IN SKYWAY
Summers in Skyway (SIS) is a free program that offers students from Campbell Hill, Lakeridge, Bryn Mawr, and Highlands Elementary Schools the opportunity to engage in fun, culturally empowering activities that foster social-emotional development and academic growth. During the 6-week summer program, eight community-based organizations provide students with the opportunity to explore STEM, environmental education, art, financial literacy, healthy living and much more. This program allows students to return to school confident in their abilities and driven to continue to engage in community activities and educational opportunities. Summers in Skyway is a critical resource for students in Skyway and Renton, offering summer learning opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable to them in their community.
It's simple, we worked to...
OUR MISSION WAS TO....
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OUR VISION WAS TO....
THE OG's: RIZP STAFF
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RIZP'S FORMER ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS
ERIN OHLSON
GREG SCHMIDT
KELLEE RODRIGUEZ
MONIQUE-WISE PRISE
Thank you for helping us create healthy learning opportunities!
Your partnership, support and donations helped made our work in the Renton Innovation Zone possible.
