Most Influential People
Most Influential, Equity: Matt Chan
Activist, entrepreneur
Matt Chan has been a provocateur much of his life, from his childhood in Portland, to his time as a student at the University of Oregon, and throughout a successful career in television production. “The main mistake people make about storytelling is to want to tell their story,” Chan says of his communications strategy. “A successful storyteller targets the audience.”
Most Influential, Equity: Conrad Reynoldson
Activist, entrepreneur
After facing numerous barriers to inclusion, including employment discrimination, Conrad Reynoldson decided to “hire himself” and start his own nonprofit disability rights law firm to advocate for the disability community in Washington state and beyond.
Reynoldson and team have quietly been making a huge difference to the disability community by advocating for access in public spaces of all kinds, including parking lots, university campuses, and countless other gathering places.
Most Influential, Sports: Sandy Gregory
Sports executive, activist
Sandy Gregory was an original Seahawk, hired six months before the team played its first game, and no one had a bigger role in weaving that franchise into the fabric of this region. She spent decades doing everything from arranging charity appearances to coordinating events to getting items signed for benefit auctions and people in need. As the team became an institution, she also kept the franchise connected to its former players.
Most Influential, Business: Joy Shigaki
President & CEO, Friends of Waterfront Seattle
Her familial dedication to service and passion for community followed her into her 20-year career working in the nonprofit, government, and community development field in roles across the U.S. and internationally. In September 2022, Shigaki took over as CEO of Friends of Waterfront Seattle, where she works to manage, program, and fundraise to revitalize the city’s Waterfront Park.
Most Influential, Arts: Daniel James Brown
Author
Brown never expected the enormous success of The Boys in the Boat, but believes his book has fostered deserved recognition for the sport of rowing, the Husky crew team, and the Seattle area. Already, Boys in the Boat fans journey to the Montlake Cut from across the world to see the spot a group of scrappy, unlikely athletes trained and rose to Olympic gold.
Most Influential, Politics: Steve Gonzalez
Washington State Supreme Court Chief Justice
“This nation was founded on the idea that we’re all entitled to equal rights, even if we didn’t have it at the time,” Gonzalez says. “And I think our job is to reinterpret those fundamental principles in a way that gives meaning to those principles to all of us.”
Most Influential, Equity: The Women Behind OSAYS
Co-founders Mari Horita, Mimi Gan, Maya Mendoza-Exstrom, Betti Fujikado, Katherine Cheng
They are storytellers. They are Asian American women. And they want to give their community a voice. They banded together several years ago to create Our Stories are Your Stories, or OSAYS, to feature two-to-five-minute videos of local Asian American individuals talking about their lives and experiences. The idea was to bring positive attention to a community that had been embattled by rising hate crimes.
Most Influential, Philanthropy: Melinda French Gates
Founder of Pivotal Ventures, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
“The principles underlying my work at the foundation and Pivotal are the same. I believe in equity and opportunity. I’m focused especially on helping women run for and win public office because I want women to exercise power and influence in society, and elected officials are in a unique position to control resources, make decisions, and shape policies and perspectives. 2024 is going to be a critical year when it comes to whether our political system truly represents women or marginalizes them. Voters will get to decide.”
Seattle’s Most Influential People
Making a significant difference in our community
Five women fighting Asian hate. The Medical Mythbuster. A woman in charge of revamping Seattle’s waterfront. The Civic Poet of Seattle.
They are just four of Seattle magazine’s Most Influential People of 2024. These extraordinary individuals sometimes (not always) toil in obscurity, but they’re fighting to improve their communities with whatever means available. They are truly heroes working to make our constantly changing city, state, and nation more livable, accessible, and equal.
Cream of the Crop
Nutpods founder Madeline Haydon named to INC's Female Founders list
Madeline Haydon founded nutpods out of frustration. Ten years later, she finds herself on Inc.’s prestigious Female Founders list. Haydon was pregnant and on vacation at Lake Tahoe when she couldn’t find any dairy-free creamer options at a diner. She decided then and there that she wanted to launch a company. She spent the next…
Arts: Tariqa Waters
Fighting the establishment while uplifting other creatives
Tariqa Waters is one of Seattle’s 25 most influential people reshaping our region. #mostinfluential Most people in Seattle know Tariqa Waters as the owner and curator of two art spaces in Pioneer Square: Martyr Sauce gallery, a creative hub she opened in 2012, and its little sister space, Martyr Sauce Pop Art Museum (MS PAM),…
Media: Tom Mara
Retirement didn’t last long for the Seattle radio legend
Tom Mara is one of Seattle’s 25 most influential people reshaping our region. #mostinfluential Media and entertainment executive Tom Mara vowed to retire when he left Seattle-based nonprofit radio station KEXP last June 30 after two stints, a name change and 34 years altogether. Retirement didn’t last long. After months serving as a consultant to…
Food & Drink: Donna Moodie
Restaurateur and activist Donna Moodie is all about community
Donna Moodie is one of Seattle’s 25 most influential people reshaping our region. #mostinfluential “If music be the food of love, play on,” wrote William Shakespeare in “Twelfth Night.” At Donna Moodie’s intimate Capitol Hill restaurant, Marjorie, music, food and love collide to create an alchemy of community as organic as the ingredients Chef Cheyenne…
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