Seattle Connection Council

The Seattle Connection Council is a cross-sector leadership body charged with safeguarding and strengthening social connection and community. It ensures Seattle remains a city defined by human connection and the conditions that drive personal wellbeing, economic vitality, cultural richness, and pluralism.

The Council is responsible for ensuring that social connection is intentionally built, measured, and sustained across Seattle.

Members serve as ambassadors for connection within their sectors and across the city—championing its importance, influencing peers, and helping embed connection into the norms and practices of civic and institutional life.

  1. Set the Standard
    Define what connection means for Seattle and align leaders around a shared vision and framework.

  2. Measure What Matters
    Establish shared metrics, track progress, and use data to identify gaps and drive action.

  3. Activate Across Sectors
    Ensure business, government, nonprofits, and cultural institutions embed connection into their core work.

  4. Build Pathways for Residents
    Create clear, accessible ways for people to build relationships, especially during key life transitions like moving, career transitions, retirement, etc.

  5. Strengthen the Ecosystem
    Connect and elevate community builders across the city to expand reach and impact.

  6. Champion and Sustain the Work
    Advocate for connection, shape policy and investment, and steward this work over the long term.

Founding Members

  • QUYNH PHAM

    Director
    Seattle Department of Neighborhoods

  • LARA LITTLEFIELD

    Executive Director
    Allen Family Philanthropies

  • DERRICK BELGARDE

    CEO
    Chief Seattle Club

  • JON SCHOLES

    President & CEO
    Downtown Seattle Associations

  • LAURA SMITH

    Co-owner, General Manager, Designated Broker
    Windermere

  • KAYLA DEMONTE

    Deputy Director
    Citizen University


  • ALONDA WILLIAMS

    President & CEO
    Big Brother Big Sister

  • JANICE DEGUCHI

    Executive Director
    Neighborhood House

  • ALVERTIS BROOKS

    Executive Director
    Rainier Valley Community Development Fund

  • TERRY KYLLO

    Executive Director
    Paths to Understanding

  • CRYSTAL BROWN

    Executive Director
    Cultivate South Park

  • MEGHAN BARNES

    Executive Director - Puget Sound
    Blue Star Families

  • DANA GUY

    Executive Director
    PEPS

  • ILONA LOHREY

    President & CEO
    GSBA

  • JEN HALLER

    Partner
    Ascend VC

  • RACHEL LIGTENBERG

    President & CEO
    Pike Place Market PDA

  • TRACEY CATALDO

    Publisher
    The Stranger

  • MICHAEL GREER

    President & CEO
    ArtsFund

  • JESSI WASSON

    Deputy Director
    Inspire Washington

  • REBECCA BEAR

    President & CEO
    Seattle Parks Foundation

  • ALLISON BRISCOE-SMITH

    Diversity Lead
    University of Washington

  • BRIAN LAWRENCE

    CEO
    Seattle Public Library Foundation

ⓒ Chamber of Connection, 2025
501(c)(3) nonprofit - tax exempt.

hello@chamberofconnection.org