Meet Our Rainmakers: Virginia Anderson

by Amanda Sorell

Welcome to a new series: Meet Our Rainmakers!

Rainmakers are readers like you who make regular donations to the Emerald — their contributions help us amplify the authentic voices of the South End, and we couldn't do it without them.

Stay tuned for more Rainmaker mini-profiles, where you can learn more about the communities that support the Emerald.

Want to be a Rainmaker? Head to our official Kindful website to support BIPOC-led media in South Seattle with a monthly contribution of any amount.

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Virginia Anderson

Virginia Anderson doesn't remember how she first learned about the Emerald, but ever since she came across its first online fundraiser, she knew she wanted to support, and she's now been a Rainmaker for three years. "It's important to me that I have a view of current events in Seattle from a different point of view," she said. "I've lived most of my life in Queen Anne, and care deeply that I get a bigger picture of the issues that rock our city."

Formerly the director of Seattle Center, she remains "passionate about the diversity of communities in this city and the way those communities celebrate their cultures, so I love the events highlighted by the South Seattle Emerald." She extends her support to the Rainier Valley Food Bank and its campaign for an expanded facility near Rainier Beach High School. She also loves the work of Donald Byrd and Spectrum Dance Theater as well as the offerings of CD Forum. Education and equity underpin these passions. "As past chair and current board member of College Success Foundation, I am committed to ensuring support for every student who wants to further their education, just as some people on the south side of Chicago did for me when I was growing up there," she said.

Now, Anderson is retired and "enjoying it, though it took awhile to get comfortable with a new identity." In retirement, she's traveled broadly — to Chile and Argentina, where she explored Patagonia; to Buenos Aires, where she danced the tango; to Morocco, where she rode a camel; to Zambia, where, from her car, she found herself surrounded by 13 giraffes; and, every year, to Mount Rainier, for her "annual spiritual return to the mountain. "I am amazed and delighted by the fact that I live in a part of the world where three national parks are within a 2.5-hour drive of my home," she said.

Anderson is also "an adoring mom of a terrific young woman," Maile, who was a contributing photographer in the early days of the Emerald, and who continues her photography work today, "focusing on events and particularly social justice marches."

So, even beyond being a Rainmaker, Anderson's support for the Emerald, and the South End, is long-standing. "I don't live in the South End," she says, "but there are so many things I love about the South End, [including] restaurants and festivals, cultural events, and the liveliness of the community."

Anderson has plenty of meaningful South End memories, such as "the diversity of people dancing at The Royal Room, the Halloween parade sponsored by the Emerald, and the wide spectrum of people participating in the immigrant rights march on May 1. … I love reading about what's going on in the rest of the city and what the issues and opinions of people in the Rainier Valley are. … In order to be an inclusive, compassionate, and effective city, we need to understand the points of view of all of us, and the impacts of decisions we collectively make on the entire city."

Amanda Sorell is a storyteller who lives in Seattle. She's an editor for the Emerald. Read her newsletter at eClips.Substack.com.

Featured Image designed by the Emerald team; photo courtesy of Virginia Anderson.