Name: RY ARMSTRONG (They/Them)
Organization (if you work with one): Sustainable Seattle
Job Title or Self-Given Title: Co-Executive Director
When did you start getting involved with being an activist or advocate and why?
I remember first getting activated into politics when I heard the powerful words of Barack Obama on TV growing up, and then again later when Bernie Sanders ran for President. I thought that this person is really being authentically honest and speaking to the actual problems facing our world instead of giving inauthentic speaking points from consultants and others. I hope to be that same level of authenticity in my organizing and advocacy work in my career as I continue to fight the good fight.
What are the issues that you focus on?
1. Housing – getting every single person living on the streets under a roof
2. Innovating Safety – it’s time to expand our medical and mental health approach to our response and build it in community
3. Wage Theft & Workers Rights – we are seeing brazen efforts to roll back the rights of unions in 2025 and that will not happen under my administration should I be elected Mayor of Seattle
4. Childcare – the average working family spends about $4,000 per month on childcare, so we must create more services and support for the next generation
How does your work help build our community bigger and stronger?
My work is about bringing people together to create a Seattle where everyone thrives. Whether through Sustainable Seattle or my campaign, I am focused on lifting up community voices, fighting for equity, and ensuring our city invests in people, not just profits.
What is the greatest achievement you have had in the work you are doing?
Being an elected Councilor on the AEA National Council to represent the Western United States is one of the greatest honors of my life so far. To bargain national contracts and fight for working people in the creative economy sits at the core of both who I am and who I want to be.
What is the biggest challenge you have faced in doing your work?
Overcoming systems that are designed to exclude people from decision-making. Whether in sustainability, policy, or advocacy, fighting for real change means going up against entrenched power structures that resist accountability.
How can others help you in the work you are doing?
Get involved! Whether it’s supporting local initiatives, amplifying the campaign, or organizing in your own communities—collective action is the key to real change. If you want to help us qualify or get involved check out www.votery.us.
What calls to action would you ask of our community?
Demand better from leadership. Hold institutions accountable. Show up for each other. Whether it’s housing, climate, or public safety, our city needs bold, people-powered solutions, and that starts with all of us.
Looking at the current climate, what words of hope do you have for our community and what should we be most concerned about?
Hope is an active choice. It lives in the way our community shows up—every rally, every mutual aid effort, every demand for justice. The biggest threat is complacency; we can’t afford to accept a status quo that leaves so many behind.
Who inspires you to keep fighting the good fight?
The organizers, the artists, the everyday people who refuse to give up on a better future. Their resilience fuels me to keep going.
