Mayor-Elect Wilson Appoints Transition Director and Co-Chairs
Photo: Jordan Somers
Seattle Mayor-Elect Katie Wilson has announced the key personnel who will lead her transition into office. The team is composed of local leaders with experience in government, business, labor, housing, and community development, with the stated goal of preparing the new administration for success upon taking office.
Transition Director Andrés Mantilla and Transition Co-Chairs Karen Estevenin, Tiffani McCoy, Quynh Pham, and Brian Surratt will contribute to the process.
Mayor-Elect Wilson issued a statement saying, "I ran for mayor on the vision that we can tackle big challenges, address our affordability crisis, and make our city a great place to live, work, and raise a family. Now it’s time to get to work." She added that she is "grateful to the Transition Director and Co-Chairs who have stepped up to lend their deep expertise... and help me put that vision into action.”
The Director and Co-Chairs will oversee the process of engaging community members to identify short, medium, and long-term priorities to advance the Mayor-Elect’s stated vision. A larger transition committee will also be convened to gather feedback. The full list of transition committee members is expected to be announced in the coming weeks and will be made available on the transition webpage.
Transition Director: Andrés Mantilla, Uncommon Bridges
Mr. Mantilla has over 20 years of experience in public policy, economic development, and stakeholder engagement. His experience includes working for the administrations of former Seattle Mayors Greg Nickels and Jenny Durkan, and serving as Director of the Department of Neighborhoods. He has also directed projects focused on homelessness policy development and grant distributions.
Transition Co-Chairs:
Karen Estevenin, Executive Director, PROTEC17: Ms. Estevenin is the Executive Director of PROTEC17, a labor union. She has dedicated her career to the labor movement, previously working with CWA/WashTech, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) 3000, and Teamsters 117.
Tiffani McCoy, Co-Executive Director, House Our Neighbors: Ms. McCoy is the Co-Executive Director and Co-Founder of House Our Neighbors. She served as campaign manager for the I-135 campaign, which established a social housing developer in the United States.
Quynh Pham, Executive Director, Friends of Little Saigon (FLS): Ms. Pham has 14 years of nonprofit development experience and leads FLS, a community development organization. She focuses on supporting small immigrant- and refugee-owned businesses.
Brian Surratt, President and CEO, Greater Seattle Partners: Mr. Surratt is a multi-sector executive with 25 years of experience in economic development. He is the current CEO of Greater Seattle Partners and previously served as the Director of the City of Seattle’s Office of Economic Development.
The transition leadership is tasked with providing a foundation for the incoming administration, focusing on the Mayor-Elect's priorities of affordability, accessibility, and innovation for the city.
