(The Center Square) – Seattle Mayor-elect Katie Wilson’s senior staff includes figures from nonprofits and advocacy groups who have played influential roles in shaping city policy, meaning she and her team are navigating potential conflicts with city ethics laws.
“This is a team that’s ready to get to work,” said Wilson in announcing her senior staff team earlier this month. “They bring deep community ties, exceptional issue expertise, and most important of all: a track record of getting things done.”
Staff members come from groups including UFCW 3000, Puget Sound Sage, Greater Seattle Partners, and Futurewise. Several of these organizations have a history of collaboration with the city, and some have received public funding.
Policy experts such as Andrew Villeneuve, founder and executive director of the Northwest Progressive Institute, say Wilson’s approach is not unusual when it comes to city government.
“There’s a lot of valuable experience in the nonprofit and private sectors, and that’s why incoming elected officials like Katie Wilson turn to those spheres for help with their transitions and staffing needs,” Villeneuve emailed The Center Square.
Under Seattle Municipal Code, “covered individuals” – like city officials, employees, and sometimes consultants/board members – may not participate in city business or decisions in which they, or certain related persons, have a financial interest, unless a waiver is granted.
The restriction applies when a city official has a financial interest in a contract or business, worked for an employer or firm within the previous 12 months that has a financial interest in a matter, or when participation would reasonably appear to impair the official’s judgment due to prior professional relationships.
The Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission also oversees conflict-of-interest reviews for mayoral staff who have had prior business relationships or contracts with the city.
SEEC Executive Director Wayne Barnett told The Center Square he has been in communication with members of the incoming mayor’s staff for the last month.
“Incoming administration officials have to disclose certain past ties, request waivers for others, and I generally recommend they get off most boards on which they sit,” he explained.
Barnett noted that both previous Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and current Mayor Bruce Harrell brought in people from organizations with a history in the city.
“I am confident we will get Mayor-elect Wilson squared away,” he said.
Wilson’s senior team is headed by incoming Deputy Mayor Brian Surratt, who previously served as CEO of Greater Seattle Partners, a public-private partnership focused on promoting business and industry growth in the region.
Before that, he directed the Seattle Office of Economic Development, where he negotiated the city’s $1.2 billion Climate Pledge Arena development agreement. He also served as the policy lead in Seattle’s effort to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour.
On Dec. 4, Greater Seattle Partners named Rebecca Lovell interim president and CEO after Surratt left to take on his new role as deputy mayor.
The organization maintains close ties to the city, including participation in Harrell’s One Seattle Civic Partnership, which focuses on revitalizing the downtown core.
Former Futurewise Director of External Affairs Kate Brunette Kreuzer will serve as Wilson’s chief of staff, a role that includes coordinating the mayor’s policy agenda. Futurewise is a statewide land use advocacy nonprofit that leads efforts to advocate for improved housing affordability.
In August, Futurewise partnered with Seattle City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes-Rinck’s office through the Complete Communities Coalition to support the development of eight additional neighborhood centers to the Seattle Comprehensive Plan’s original 30 centers.
Kreuzer’s left Futurewise on Nov. 15 after seven years with the organization.
Jen Chan is currently the deputy executive director of the Seattle Housing Authority, but the organization told The Center Square that Chan’s resignation is effective Dec. 31, so that she can fill the role of director of departments, in which she would supervise all department directors, with ultimate responsibility for implementing policy decisions through city staff.
Before her role at the SHA, Chan spent 25 years in city government, including such roles as chief of staff at Seattle City Light, senior operations manager in the Mayor’s Office, and policy and fiscal advisor in the Mayor’s Executive Office, among others in Seattle.
SHA is a major partner in Seattle’s homelessness response and consistently receives funding from the city and King County. The agency’s 2026 budget shows that it was awarded $200,500 for the 2025-2027 period from the Expanded Learning Initiative, funded by King County’s Best Starts for Kids.
Other senior staff members include Aly Pennucci as director of the City Budget Office. She most recently served as the deputy executive for Whatcom County and as deputy director for the City of Seattle’s Council Central Staff before that.
Alex Gallo-Brown will serve as Wilson’s director of Community Relations, coming from the UFCW 3000.
Nicole Vallestero Soper will serve as director of Policy and Innovation. She was previously the policy director at Puget Sound Sage, where she most notably helped secure the nation’s first $15 minimum wage in the City of SeaTac.
Seferiana Day Hasegawa will work as the director of Communications for Wilson’s office. She has led communications for the City of Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development and teaches policy advocacy at the University of Washington School of Social Work.
Wilson will be sworn in and officially take office on Jan. 1, 2026.
