A project to help Seattle follow through.
Seattle has the talent, the economy, and the civic energy to solve the problems in front of us. The question has never been whether Seattle has what it takes. It's whether we organize ourselves to make it happen. Too often, good plans pass and quietly fall behind. The gap between what Seattle promises and what people experience is growing. That's what For Seattle exists to close.
Become a founding member →Seattle approved plans to build hundreds of new homes near future light rail stations. The zoning was in place, funding was lined up, neighborhoods supported the projects. But some have spent over a year stalled in permitting and appeals. As delays stretch on, construction costs climb, financing unravels, and developers walk away.
This is a pattern, not an isolated case. New building permit applications have fallen by two-thirds since 2020, and the 2025 pace has dropped nearly 50% further. More than 16,000 people are experiencing homelessness across King County, up roughly 26% since 2022. Roughly half of renters are paying more than they can afford. And Sound Transit is now considering scenarios that would cut or defer the light rail lines voters approved a decade ago.
Seattle is home to strong organizations doing important work. What's missing is someone stitching the full picture together — tracking outcomes across issues, staying engaged over years, and organizing the sustained civic pressure that turns good policy into real results.
Some of us have run city operations, built housing, or led civic organizations. Others are residents — in nonprofits, tech, the arts, small business — who got tired of watching good plans stall. What we share is the belief that residents who stay engaged and bring their experience to the work can hold this city to a higher standard.
And we know Seattle can do this. This is the city that reconnected downtown to its waterfront after decades of planning, that prepared the Duwamish Valley for future flooding through community-centered infrastructure, that built a public library system among the best in the country. In the late 1960s, Forward Thrust brought residents together to fund parks, open space, and the early foundations of King County METRO. The capacity is there. The consistency isn't. That's what we're here to change.
Grew up in the Central District and later on the Eastside. Product of our local public schools and comes from a family of public servants. Co-founded Landed, which built the largest private down payment assistance program in the country to help educators and healthcare workers buy homes. Got his start in civic organizing on Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. Lives in the CD with his husband Jonny and their 100-pound "lap dog."
Lives in Mount Baker with his wife and three kids. Has spent his career building and fixing health systems, including years at Gates Ventures. As a funder and board member, he has supported organizations like Housing Connector that are delivering innovative, scalable solutions to homelessness. Co-founded education organizations across Africa, including Kepler University. When his kids decided the neighborhood needed a garden, he helped them make it happen.
For Seattle is part of the Abundance Network, a national coalition of civic leaders organizing for a 21st century government.
For Seattle is a chance to be for something at a time when there's so much to be against. For hope, progress, and real improvements people can feel. For Seattle being at our best: growing, and doing so affordably and sustainably.
We lean toward what the city can build, not just what's broken. Growth is how we create more of what people need: more homes, more transit, more access. And it only counts if it reaches everyone.
Seattle doesn't lack good ideas. It lacks the sustained focus to make them real. We care whether something actually worked, not whether it sounded good.
Hard problems are hard. We stay in a learning mindset and adjust when we're wrong.
We stay on it. Not for a quarter or an election cycle, but for years.
We share what we find. Not spin, not cherry-picked wins. If something isn't working, we say so.
We ask a different question than most civic work: Is any of this actually changing what people experience? Not in theory. In practice. We track outcomes over years, not quarters or election cycles, and we organize the civic pressure to keep the city delivering.
More homes people can actually afford and access.
Fewer neighbors living outside. More people getting shelter, treatment, and support.
Better ways to move around that save people time with less environmental impact.
Lower everyday costs, from utilities to childcare, so people aren't constantly stretched.
Seattle's comprehensive plan calls for roughly 6,000 new homes per year. The city has hit that pace recently, but new permit applications have collapsed — down two-thirds since their peak — and without action, today's permit drought becomes tomorrow's housing shortage.
We're advancing a Housing Opportunity legislative package targeting three structural barriers: making it easier to convert underused commercial buildings into homes, removing code barriers that block mass timber, modular, and passive house construction, and expanding housing capacity in areas near jobs and transit. The goal is enough housing that's affordable and accessible for both newcomers and the communities that have been here building these neighborhoods for a long time.
And we'll publicly track whether the city is making real progress. Not spin. Not cherry-picked wins. If we back a policy and it doesn't deliver, we'll say so and figure out why.
Organized people, organized ideas, and organized money create durable civic leverage. We help unblock what's stuck and bring researched ideas to the table. We show up at key decision points and track progress publicly. When it matters, we engage in elections: supporting leaders who get it done and holding accountable those who don't.
Advance housing reforms, starting with the Housing Opportunity package, and begin publicly tracking whether the city is reversing the permit pipeline collapse.
Build a community of several hundred residents who show up consistently, track progress, and hold the city accountable.
Graduate 50 Seattleites through a civic leadership program, including communities most affected by the challenges we're focused on, and connect them to opportunities to help drive progress.
We'll measure impact and expand deliberately. If something isn't working, we'll say so and change course.
If you believe Seattle can build enough housing, make real progress on homelessness, and run a government that executes in ways people can actually feel, you are already part of this project.
For Seattle is funded by its members and supporters. No single funder directs our policy agenda or political strategy. We'll be transparent about who invests in this work and why.
Founding members commit real time, resources, or both to building For Seattle from the ground up. If you want to shape this work, not just watch it, reach out.
Get in touch →Not ready to jump in? No problem. Subscribe and we'll keep you posted as the work moves forward.
Subscribe on Substack →Seattle has everything it needs to be one of the best cities in the world. The question is whether we organize ourselves to make it work. Come build with us.