Our Second Acts feature is proof that it’s never too late to find success in entirely new ventures. These stories celebrate individuals who discovered purpose and fulfillment in the later chapters of life.

Long before she retired from the iconic Seattle advertising agency she co-founded with Jim Copacino 26 years ago, Betti Fujikado had come to a simple yet powerful realization: She wanted to use her skills for the greater good. And she has done just that. In fact, one could argue she’s been even more successful in “retirement” than in her profession.

Consider: Along with co-founder Mimi Gan, Fujikado in 2020 launched Seattle Unite, The Democracy Cup, an initiative encouraging underrepresented communities of color to complete the census and vote.

She co-founded, along with Carla Corkern, Success Cohorts, a project that provides coaching and community for first-generation college students and career success that has reached more than 200 people. Success Cohorts held its first fundraising event last June, and has had seven cohorts.

And, in April 2021, she and four friends co-founded OSAYS, or Our Stories are Your Stories, to fight rising hate against Asian Americans both locally and across the United States. The women are Fujikado, Mi2Media co-founder Gan, Seattle Mariners Vice President of People, Culture and DEI Katherine Cheng, Seattle Sounders FC COO Maya Mendoza-Exstrom, and Seattle Kraken Senior Vice President of Social Impact and Government Relations Mari Horita.

While the OSAYS website is not currently being updated, the women are now tackling Democracy Cup 2024, an effort showcasing minority sports stars urging people to vote in the upcoming election. With a limited amount of time and resources, the OSAYS team decided that the election was where they could wield the most influence. Communities of color vote at a lower rate than the broader community.

“It could be financial power. It could be a power of knowledge. It could be their network. What am I going to do to give back to my communities with the power that I have?”

“There’s plenty of voting campaigns out there. But one thing that’s different about what we do is we put together content and we make it available for organizations who serve communities of color,” says Fujikado, whose parents were incarcerated in a concentration camp during World War II. “They have to do their own content, and they can just download ours and send it out in their emails and newsletters. The Seattle Housing Authority is probably one of our best examples.”

Fujikado, who didn’t get into the advertising business until her early 40s after a career in the financial services industry as a CPA with PwC, calls her recent efforts her “third act.” A common thread across all her endeavors is building community and helping young people learn how to succeed.

The latter is rooted in Fujikado’s own rocky experience in start- ing out. PwC, she notes, was “very kind” in mentoring her.

“It was just a very confusing place for me to be. I just didn’t understand the way of working,” she recalls. “Luckily, I went to work at a place where they were very supportive. They told a young Japanese girl that showed up in a T-shirt, a Batik tie-dye wraparound skirt, no nylons, and platform sandals that maybe that wasn’t what you’re supposed to be wondering to work.”

Trade publication Ad Age named her former agency — which still goes by the name Copacino+Fujikado, even though both founders have retired — its small agency of the year award four times. Prominent clients are numerous, including Visit Seattle, the Seattle Mariners, and Sound Transit.

“What’s really important to me is that there are so many people who have a certain amount of power,” says Fujikado, who admits she’s become somewhat of a serial entrepreneur after so many years in the advertising business. “It could be financial power. It could be a power of knowledge. It could be their network. What am I going to do to give back to my communities with the power that I have?”