Mayor-elect Katie Wilson’s transition team blends City Hall veterans and progressive leaders

Mayor-elect Katie Wilson has named the five leaders who will guide her transition into office, her first major move since the election was certified last week.

Wilson appointed former Department of Neighborhoods Director Andrés Mantilla as her transition director, along with four co-chairs representing labor, housing, community development, and business: Tiffani McCoy, Karen Estevenin, Quynh Pham, and Brian Surratt. The mix includes both City Hall veterans and prominent organizers, signaling that Wilson may balance her progressive ambitions with experienced, establishment voices.

Transition director

Mantilla, a longtime City Hall staffer under mayors Greg Nickels and Jenny Durkan, brings deep experience in community outreach and city operations. Mantilla is currently a partner at Uncommon Bridges, a Seattle-based policy consulting firm formerly known as BDS Planning. He brings 20 years of experience in facilitation, public policy, economic development, community engagement, and equity initiatives and is known for building consensus across diverse stakeholders.

As director of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, Mantilla told online media outlet Aging King County, “We intentionally attempt or try to center community in our work. The strength of our department is in our staff, in their ability to build authentic and trusting relationships with community, and it’s really at the heart of what we do.”

Transition co-chairs

Tiffani McCoy, co-executive director, House Our Neighbors

McCoy, co-executive director of House Our Neighbors, is the most progressive pick and is known for leading Seattle’s push for publicly owned, permanently affordable social housing funded by new taxes on businesses and high earners. She was the campaign manager for successful ballot measures I-135, which created the Seattle Social Housing Developer (SSHD) in 2023, and Prop 1A, which helped significantly fund SSHD. A prominent housing justice activist, McCoy wants permanently affordable, mixed-income housing to be a human right.

“We don’t have a plan for people who make between zero and 120% of the area’s median income, so we’re talking about your baristas, your custodians, your nurses, school workers who aren’t able to, you know, afford being in the city. So, we wanted to make sure that housing was dedicated for them as a right and not as a commodity, ” McCoy once explained on online media outlet Converge Media. “We want to kind of cut off that pipeline into homelessness by just creating housing as a human right and not as a commodity and making sure that people aren’t paying more than 30% of their income in rent into a building that’s community controlled.”

Karen Estevenin, executive director, PROTEC17

Estevenin, head of PROTEC17, represents the largest union of city employees and was one of Wilson’s earliest supporters during the campaign. She has led the union since 2019, focusing on worker rights, equity, and public services. PROTEC17 endorsed Katie Wilson in the 2025 mayoral race, highlighting concerns over affordability and progressive revenue.

Quynh Pham, executive director, Friends of Little Saigon

Pham, executive director of Friends of Little Saigon, is a prominent voice for immigrant business districts and anti-displacement work in the Chinatown–International District (CID). She holds degrees in American Ethnic Studies and Public Administration and was recognized as one of Seattle Magazine’s Most Influential People of 2024.

Brian Surratt, president and CEO, Greater Seattle Partners

Surratt, president of Greater Seattle Partners and a former economic development director, is widely viewed as the business-friendly member of the group, known for his role in negotiating the city’s $15 minimum wage and major economic projects, including the Climate Pledge Arena renovation.

Wilson said the team reflects her promise to tackle Seattle’s affordability crisis while grounding her administration in lived experience and institutional knowledge.

“It’s time to get to work,” she said in a statement on X. “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.”

The mayor-elect is expected to announce a larger transition committee next week before turning to staffing decisions for her administration.

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