Seattle CityClub’s Alicia Crank on Leadership and Impactful Initiatives Happening in Washington State
Photos by Susan Fried
Alicia Crank, Executive Director at the Seattle CityClub, joined Trae Holiday on The Day With Trae this Monday to discuss her work in the organization, upcoming initiatives, work in the Seattle Sports Commission, and role as a community leader. Seattle CityClub, founded over 40 years ago by eight Seattle women spurred into action by the exclusionary practices of men's-only rotary clubs, promotes civic engagement, civil discourse, and the annual tradition of hosting public debates, all aimed at empowering King County residents to actively participate in shaping their communities.
Crank's passion for community work was deeply rooted in her upbringing in Detroit after a transformative experience with HighScope, a Michigan-based organization that orchestrated programs for children. Crank partook in a camp that brought children from regions of Michigan together for a month-long retreat.
"Three of my best friends have come out of that experience, and that really set the tone for me to go [and] learn more about different people, different cultures, and different ways of living," Crank said. "So civic engagement and community work like this started from there."
Crank also unveiled some exciting plans for the Seattle CityClub, including the anticipated Civic Cocktail gathering, scheduled to take place on Wednesday, April 3, 2024.
"It's for those between the ages of 15 and 24. We want to get Gen Z more engaged in how they can function in your communities and how they can help lead politically [and] civically, but what we're going to do this time around is we're going to have the youth tell us how they want to engage,” Crank said. "I think there [are] other groups that mean very well, but when you're telling them, "Okay, this is how we, as older people, want you to engage," you will lose people so quickly. This time is really going to be about having them build with us and teaching us in the community how to keep them engaged."
This event features a panel of Civically Engaged Youth Council (CEYC) members, a group of high school—and college-aged students across Washington who will participate in Seattle CityClub's civic engagement work.
"We're going to put our money where our mouth. The youth council leadership team will have a spot on our board of directors at CityClub, so they are going to be involved in kind of our higher-level decision-making, being able to help us figure out what types of programming we should do from a topics perspective, who we should get as speakers for that," Crank said. "This particular year is getting this launched number one and then to have them be a part of the statewide debates we're going to do later this fall."
During her conversation with Holiday, Crank underscored coming into her role as the leader of the Seattle CityClub as well as her impact as a community leader. Crank shared a milestone from 2019 when she founded the Edmonds International Women's Day initiative. Having just celebrated its sixth annual celebration, this endeavor is just one component of Crank's commitment to empowering and uplifting women in King County. Drawing inspiration from advice she received in the past, Crank emphasizes two tips for young girls wishing to follow in her footsteps.
"Always own your experience. Whether it's your work experience when you worked at Target, and now you're doing something on a managerial level, you should still own every single thing that you have done because it's built you to where you are today," Crank said. "The other one, especially as a black woman, is acknowledging whatever fears you have about being the first or the only in that space; acknowledge it, but don't let it rule you."
Continuing that anecdote, Crank shared a profound lesson about persevering and continuing forward despite fear.
"What I ended up learning is that when I stepped into these spaces, and even to this day, when I'm the first and or the only person that looks like me, walking into the room and being the decision maker, is you know what, they're going to stare at me anyway," Cranks said. "I'm going to tell them what I want them to hear. I'm going to show them what they need to see. So if they're already going to be fixated on you, for whatever reason, use that as an opportunity to get your point and your message across."
Later in their discussion, Crank delved into her role as a commissioner on the Seattle Sports Commission, her involvement with the NHL's Seattle Kraken and her profound affinity for hockey, a passion rooted in her upbringing in Detroit.
"It was actually a lot easier for us as youth in Detroit to get to a Redwings game, then a Pistons game, basketball or football because those stadiums were in the suburbs. Joe Louis Arena, now Little Caesars Arena, is literally in the heart of downtown Detroit. So growing up in a big four city that had hockey, baseball, football, and basketball, it was easy to become a sports fan," Crank said. "Coming here to Seattle now and being at the beginning of the campaign to bring a pro hockey team here, I was really impressed with how the Kraken did it differently. I like that they put women and persons of color in these primary front-facing office roles, so between my fandom in general of the sport and seeing how they're really redefining who needs to be represented in that sport. That's how I became a Kraken fan."
Check out the Seattle CityClub website here to learn more about Alicia and the non-profit's upcoming work.
For more stories about community organizations doing work in King County, join Trae live every weekday at 11 am on Converge Media platforms and The Day With Trae YouTube Channel.
