High-resolution portrait |
Bill Stafford is
the chief strategizer, planner, briefer and leader
for the annual delegations of Seattle’s business
and political leadership visiting chief citistate
capitals around the globe. No American region has
a comparable program. Stafford is unabashed in explaining
why he wants it for trade-dependent Seattle: “We
are building the most internationally sophisticated
leadership in the world.”
Prior to assuming the presidency
of the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle in 1991, Stafford
served a succession of Seattle mayors over a period of nearly two
decades. His varied posts included Deputy Mayor and Director of
the Office of Intergovernmental Relations, coordinating relations
with county, state and federal governments.
Under the trade development
program Stafford leads for the Greater Seattle Chamber
of Commerce, yearly delegations of Seattle regional
leaders — an average of 75 from business, government,
non-profits, schools and colleges — make week-long
reconnaissance trips to successful foreign regions.
Stafford prepares briefing books packed with local
history, economic and political facts, issue summaries
and press clippings. To date, the delegations have
visited Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Stuttgart, Osaka/Kobe,
Japan, Hong Kong, Bristol and London, G.B., and
Singapore.
When not spanning
the globe to boost Seattle’s competitiveness,
Stafford has served on numerous local boards, including
the Children’s Museum, Public Defender Association,
and the Seattle Zoo. While on the Zoo’s board,
Stafford moved instinctively to forge international
ties. After putting together a “sister city”
agreement with Chongqing, China, in the '80s, he
negotiated with the Chinese for a series of animal
exchanges including golden monkeys, red panthers
and ostriches.
For
more on Bill Stafford, read Neal Peirce’s 1997
column: Seattle’s Global Maestro
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