Most Influential People
Seattle’s Most Influential People 2019: Arts Education Advocate, Lara Davis
The Creative Advantage has doubled the number of music and visual arts programs in Seattle elementary schools
This article appears in print in the November 2019 issue, as part of the Most Influential People of the Year feature. Click here to subscribe. Lara Davis, former Youth Arts Manager for Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture (she left the position in August), has been the driving force behind The Creative Advantage, a citywide initiative between Seattle Public Schools,…
Seattle’s Most Influential People 2019: HistoryLink Executive Director and Cofounder, Marie McCaffrey
HistoryLink celebrated its 20th anniversary this year
This article appears in print in the November 2019 issue, as part of the Most Influential People of the Year feature. Click here to subscribe. HistoryLink, the first online encyclopedia of regional history, would have been a book if it wasn’t for executive director and cofounder Marie McCaffrey. McCaffrey founded the website covering Seattle and King County history with her…
Seattle’s Most Influential People 2019: Former General Director of the Seattle Opera, Aidan Lang
During his five-year tenure, Lang helped grow the opera's audience, especially with younger crowds
This article appears in print in the November 2019 issue, as part of the Most Influential People of the Year feature. Click here to subscribe. Aidan Lang served as Seattle Opera’s general director for just five years prior to joining the Welsh National Opera, but he left a legacy that promises to set the tone for generations of opera fans. During…
Seattle’s Most Influential People 2019: Common Ground Music Project Founder, Shontina Vernon
In addition, her Visionary Justice StoryLab earned Vernon a fellowship from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation
This article appears in print in the November 2019 issue, as part of the Most Influential People of the Year feature. Click here to subscribe. Three years ago, Shontina Vernon took 11 other Seattle artists—in dance, music, spoken word and other arts—to Cuba to meet, learn from and collaborate with artists in that country. That trip served as the launch…
Seattle’s Most Influential People 2019: Outgoing CEO and President of the Bullitt Foundation, Denis Hayes
Twenty-seven years after becoming a leader at the Bullitt Foundation, environmental activist Denis Hayes is stepping down
This article appears in print in the November 2019 issue, as part of the Most Influential People of the Year feature. Click here to subscribe. It only seemed natural for Denis Hayes, organizer of the first Earth Day in 1970, to take on a leadership role at the Bullitt Foundation 27 years ago. Under his direction, the environmental philanthropic nonprofit…
Seattle’s Most Influential People 2019: Southern Resident Orca Task Force
The task force includes local scientists, government officials and leaders of indigenous communities
This article appears in print in the November 2019 issue, as part of the Most Influential People of the Year feature. Click here to subscribe. The Pacific Northwest was swept with grief when Southern Resident orca Tahlequah carried her dead calf for 17 days last summer. The death of Tahlequah’s calf wasn’t the first or the last loss to the…
Seattle’s Most Influential People 2019: Commissioner of Public Lands, Hilary Franz
Franz secured $50 million from the legislature this year to fund fire prevention efforts
This article appears in print in the November 2019 issue, as part of the Most Influential People of the Year feature. Click here to subscribe. After smoke loomed on seattle’s horizon for the two summers prior to this one, Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz is making her Department of Natural Resources (DNR) a more visible force. Elected in 2016,…
Seattle’s Most Influential People 2019: TransFamilies Executive Director, Aidan Key
The founder of the organization Gender Diversity begins a new project with TransFamilies
This article appears in print in the November 2019 issue, as part of the Most Influential People of the Year feature. Click here to subscribe. It’s been 12 years since Aidan Key founded Gender Diversity, an organization dedicated to creating supportive, inclusive environments, both physical and emotional, for transgender and gender-nonconforming children. Key is a powerful public speaker, not with…
Seattle’s Most Influential People 2019: Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer, Brad Smith
This year, Smith pledged $500 million to be spent on increasing affordable housing in Seattle
This article appears in print in the November 2019 issue, as part of the Most Influential People of the Year feature. Click here to subscribe. Microsoft’s recent renaissance is nothing new; the local tech giant has seen substantial revenue growth since Satya Nadella took over in 2014. (Nadella made our Most Influential list that same year.) This year, Microsoft president…
Seattle’s Most Influential People 2019: Social Justice Fund Interim Program Director, Karen Toering
Toering's black-led Giving Project has raised more than $370,000 from 240 donors to boost black-led organizations
This article appears in print in the November 2019 issue, as part of the Most Influential People of the Year feature. Click here to subscribe. As interim program director of the Social Justice Fund, Karen Toering has directed her many talents—as a grassroots organizer, cultural worker, and nonprofit arts and social justice consultant—into the black-led Giving Project. The project, the…
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