Downtown Seattle Association

Seattle Foundation president and CEO Alesha Washington joins me on the latest episode of Seattle City Makers 🎙️. We discuss how she made it to Seattle after originally turning down the search firm looking to fill the role, the evolving nature of community foundations, the importance of joy to Alesha’s leadership and SF’s priorities and her first job and perfect Saturday in Seattle. Listen, rate and subscribe at the link below!

What do collecting 1.4 million gallons of trash, removing nearly 50,000 graffiti tags and welcoming 625,000 downtown park visitors have in common? Direct action we’ve taken over the past 12 months to further downtown’s continued revitalization. There’s a lot to report – we’ll let this video tell the story. https://lnkd.in/g368yyB5

Get ready to rock: Downtown Summer Sounds is back! Catch free live shows from local and national bands at our summer concert series, now in its 45th year. From hip-hop and folk-pop to psychedelic punk rock and bluegrass, there’s something for everyone at Downtown Summer Sounds presented by Amazon and funded by MID ratepayers. View the full lineup: https://lnkd.in/gPfTWTnC

Ronald’s journey from homelessness to a vital DSA/MID team member is a testament to his resilience and determination. In 2018, a chance encounter with an ambassador dramatically changed his life and connected him with critical resources. Now Ronald is helping others in similar situations and ensuring downtown is safer and more welcoming for everyone. Thank you, Ronald, for your daily work improving downtown for us all, and congratulations on earning the Lee Townsend Ambassador of the Year Award. https://lnkd.in/gmKA2YTj

Since joining the DSA/MID nearly a year ago, Nicole has approached her job with a total team mindset, and in February she was promoted to assistant supervisor. She has broadened her skills and become an integral part of an internal professional development program designed to further employee skills. Nicole always has a great attitude and a strong willingness to help wherever possible, including recently stepping in to help with a medical emergency downtown. Please join us in congratulating Nicole as our May Ambassador of the Month. 

For decades, Third Avenue has fallen well short of being a vibrant pedestrian experience. With DSA’s Third Avenue Vision and ULI Northwest’s Third Avenue Forum, there’s now more momentum to take meaningful action to transform this critical corridor. Our final Virtual Access event of the spring season, presented by Amazon, focused on plans to revitalize Third Avenue, including lessons from Denver’s renovation of the 16th Street Mall: https://lnkd.in/gRJw5fgD

On Wednesday, June 19 our offices and all ambassador operations will be closed in observance of Juneteenth. The recognition of Juneteenth as a federal holiday in 2021 is a small, but important symbol to Black Americans, acknowledging the oppression and systemic racism that they have experienced throughout history and the actual day when all Americans became free of enslavement. We will resume regular hours on Thursday, June 20.

The monthly update to DSA's Downtown Revitalization Dashboard has been published — and the increase of one metric should come as no surprise. With the tourism season now upon us, we welcomed nearly 2.5 million visitors downtown in May. The previous month saw more than 2.2 million visitors. Dig into the details: https://lnkd.in/gsdkGqsM

This was a super fun conversation with Ian Courtnage, the CEO of Evergreens who previously held roles with big Seattle brands like Starbucks and Zulily and led the significant expansion of Mod Pizza most recently. Ian and I discuss the business of fast casual food, how he found his way to Evergreens, how he uses data to manage the enterprise, how they name salads, his first job and his perfect Saturday in Seattle. Listen, rate and subscribe at the link below!

Third Avenue has fallen well short of its potential for decades. Now there’s renewed enthusiasm from a number of stakeholders and two recent reports aimed at transforming this critical downtown corridor. Our next DSA Virtual Access will examine this effort to enhance Third Avenue and see what we can learn from a similar effort already underway in Denver. Register now for this online event: https://lnkd.in/g-p_mk_P