Mayor-Elect Katie Wilson today announced a 60-member transition team which brings extensive knowledge of housing, business, labor, arts, community safety, civil rights, transportation and other fields. Over the next several weeks, members of the transition team will identify and reach out to dozens of additional community advisors to gather the broadest possible range of input, identify priorities, and help equip Mayor-Elect Wilson to successfully execute her vision as the next mayor of Seattle.
“I’m a coalition-builder — that’s how I ran my campaign, and that’s how I’ll govern,” said Mayor-Elect Katie Wilson. “My transition team brings people together from a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives, and expertise to help me deliver on the vision that guided my campaign: a vision of a city that is more affordable, more accessible, and more innovative, where economic growth is paired with equity, government functions effectively, and communities feel supported and heard by their city government.”
“I don’t expect everyone on the transition team to agree with me on every issue, and it doesn’t matter who they supported in the election,” Wilson continued. “I have sought out their input and invited them to join my transition team because being a successful mayor means being a mayor for everyone.”
The transition team is organized into seven policy areas focused on:
Housing Affordability & Community Needs
Economic Development & Workers Rights
Transportation & Environment
Arts, Culture & Creative Economy
Civic Narrative & Major Initiatives
Standing Up for Our Values
Public Safety, Parks & Wellbeing
Transition team members in each policy area will solicit input from a broad base of community advisors to identify short, medium, and long-term priorities that advance the Mayor-Elect’s platform in accordance with her vision. The transition team also includes six student and youth advisors.
Transition Team Leadership (previously announced)
Andrés Mantilla, Transition Director; Uncommon Bridges
Karen Estevenin, Transition Co-Chair; Executive Director, Protec17
Tiffani McCoy, Transition Co-Chair; Co-Executive Director, House Our Neighbors
Quynh Pham, Transition Co-Chair; Executive Director, Friends of Little Saigon
Brian Surratt, Transition Co-Chair; President and CEO, Greater Seattle Partners
Housing Affordability & Community Needs
Policy Area Co-Leads:
Colleen Echohawk, CEO, Community Roots Housing
Jon Scholes, President & CEO, Downtown Seattle Association
Policy Area Members:
Cate Bridenstine, Executive Director, Imagine Institute
Alvertis Brooks Jr., Executive Director, Rainier Valley Community Development Fund
Gregory Davis, Managing Strategist, Rainier Beach Action Coalition
Alison Eisinger, Executive Director, Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness
Nakita Venus, Executive Director, Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center
Economic Development & Workers Rights
Policy Area Co-Leads:
Richard de Sam Lazaro, Senior Director, Government Affairs, Expedia
Corina Yballa, Political Director, MLK Labor
Policy Area Members:
Jeanie Chunn, Founder, Seattle Restaurants United
Arif Gursel, Founder and Executive Director, The Union
Toshiko Hasegawa, Commissioner, Port of Seattle
Joe Mizrahi, UFCW 3000, Seattle School Board
Terrance Stevenson, Director, SeaCiti Initiative, WTIA
Transportation & Environment
Policy Area Co-Leads:
Shemona Moreno, Executive Director, 350 Seattle
Anna Zivarts, Program Director, Disability Mobility Initiative
Policy Area Members:
Lowell Bander, 9Zero Climate Innovation Hub
Lindsay Goes Behind, Chief Impact Officer, Seattle Foundation
Lee Lambert, Executive Director, Cascade Bicycle Club
Paulina Lopez, Executive Director, Duwamish River Community Coalition
Gordon Padelford, Executive Director, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways
Arts, Culture & Creative Economy
Policy Area Co-Leads:
Randy Engstrom, Co-Founder & Principal, Third Way Creative
Ben Hunter, Artistic Director, Northwest Folklife
Policy Area Members:
Michael Greer, President and CEO, ArtsFund
Jesse Hagopian, Educator, Author, and Blues Musician
Edwin Lindo, Co-Founder, Estelita’s Library
Amy Nguyen, Executive Director, Watershed Community Development
Elisheba Wokoma, Co-Executive Director, Wa Na Wari
Civic Narrative & Major Initiatives
Policy Area Co-Leads:
Alex Hudson, Executive Director, Commute Seattle
Joy Shigaki, President & CEO, Friends of the Waterfront
Policy Area Members:
Lilliane Ballesteros, Executive Director, Latino Community Fund
Dr. Ana Mari Cauce, President Emeritus, University of Washington
Andrea Caupain Sanderson, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director, Ile Kimoyo
Leo Flor, Chief Legacy Officer, Seattle FIFA World Cup 26
Mari Horita, SVP, Seattle Kraken
Standing Up for Our Values
Policy Area Co-Leads:
Roxana Norouzi, Executive Director, OneAmerica
Jaelynn Scott, Executive Director, Lavender Rights Project
Policy Area Members:
Caedman Cahill, Civil Rights Attorney
Deaunte Damper, Regional Office of Gun Violence Prevention, King County
Mubarak Elamin, American Muslim Advancement Council
Faduma Fido, Collaborative Governance Lab Leader, People’s Economy Lab
Abdi Jama, Community Legal Advocate
Public Safety, Parks, & Wellbeing
Policy Area Co-Leads:
Lisa Daugaard, Co-Executive Director, Purpose.Dignity.Action
Dominique Davis, CEO, Community Passageways
Policy Area Members:
Asia Adam, Executive Director, OurHope
Erin Goodman, Executive Director, SODO Business Improvement Area
Rev. Dr. Robert Jeffrey, Sr., New Hope Missionary Baptist Church
Gregory Joseph, Communications Director, Alliance for Gun Responsibility
Lonnisha Landry, CEO, Just/Us Love Ones
Student & Youth Advisors
Leo Falit-Baiamonte, President, Seattle Student Union
Russell McQuarrie-Means, Student, South Seattle College
Bailey Medilo, Staff Organizer, Washington Bus
Simon Kreft, Student, Seattle Central College
Rayne Thompson, Student, University of Washington
Sonal Virk, ASUW Vice President, University of Washington
When we reported the mayor-elect’s announcement of transition-team leaders last week, we noted that Mantilla and Surratt are West Seattleites. Names of local note on this list include student adviser Russell McQuarrie-Means, who was behind the “Save Curby” signage targeting City Councilmember Rob Saka‘s plan to remove a raised divider from Delridge (a plan since scrapped), transportation/environment policy team member Paulina López of the South Park-based Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition, and arts/culture/creative economy team member Randy Engstrom, a former director of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. Wilson will take office January 2; we’re told the ceremony location isn’t yet set.
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One week after Mayor-Elect Katie Wilson 
Mary Ann (Weir) Scott
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