Most Influential
Seattle’s Most Influential People
Making a significant difference in our community
By Rob Smith January 8, 2024
This article originally appeared in the January/February 2024 issue of Seattle magazine.
Five women fighting Asian hate. The Civic Poet of Seattle. The Medical Mythbuster. A woman in charge of helping to revamp Seattle’s waterfront.
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.
The list is based on three main criteria:
Who are the (potentially) unsung heroes who did something significant last year? Who is working selflessly to find solutions to our region’s or world’s problems? Who has been behind some of the year’s biggest news stories? It’s not often who you think.
All approach their work or activism from a unique lens. All are making a difference in our community.
These are Seattle’s Most Influential People. Join us every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday over the next two months as we roll out stories highlighting their impactful work.
Philanthropy
Equity
- Mari Horita, Mimi Gan, Maya Mendoza-Exstrom, Betti Fujikado, Katherine Cheng (OSAYS)
- Matt Chan
- Conrad Reynoldson
- Vivian Phillips
- Cynthia Brothers
- Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe
Politics
Arts
Business
Sports
Hospitality
Health Care
Education
Fashion
Follow Us
Most Influential: Jen Barnes
Owner, Rough & Tumble
Lots of people tried to dissuade Jen Barnes from opening Rough & Tumble, among the first women-themed sports bars in the United States. She didn’t listen. “Quite a few tried to talk me out of this because at the time it was crazy,” says Barnes, a fourth-generation Seattleite and a huge sports fan who spent…
Most Influential: Rico Quirindongo
Director at Office of Planning and Community Development, City of Seattle
Rico Quirindongo received an email from then-Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan in August of 2020 in the throes of the pandemic with the subject line, “I want to talk to you about the future of the city.” “I thought it was spam,” Quirindongo recalls with a chuckle. “Then I realized this is actually her email and…
Most Influential: Amy Tipton
Gallery owner, advocate
Amy Tipton is nothing if not resourceful. In 2013, shortly after opening her now-shuttered Belltown boutique Sassafras, she decided to resurrect the neighborhood’s monthly art walk, which had fizzled after Roq La Rue Gallery moved south to Pioneer Square. “I found an old map of the locations that used to participate, then reached out to…
Most Influential: Bob Davidson
CEO, Seattle Aquarium
When Bob Davidson visited the Seattle Aquarium 22 years ago as newly appointed CEO, he brought his three college and high school-age sons along to tour the facility. Little had changed or been invested in the city-run Aquarium over the past decades, and it showed. Aging exhibits and informational signs did little to inspire or…