BOARD OF ADVISORS
Gary Gayton
Gary Gayton, a prominent Seattle lawyer and investment banker, began his distinguished career with an appointment by Robert Kennedy as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington State. As a lawyer, he prosecuted and defended numerous notable cases involving the civil rights of African Americans, Native Americans, and women. He has been a partner in law firms both Washingtons and is now a government relations consultant, as well as an investment banker with the San Francisco Bay area based firm of Siebert Brandford Shank & Co.
Gayton served in the Carter Administration as White House liaison for the U.S. Department of Transportation and as the Acting Administrator of the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) - now known as the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). As a special assistant to then-U.S. Secretary of Transportation Brock Adams, Gayton oversaw Seattle’s Interstate-90 project and later served 12 years as the I-90 Citizens Committee Chairman appointed by then-Seattle Mayor Charles Royer. He was the highest ranking federal former federal official to serve on the Clinton-Gore Transportation Transition Team. From 1993 to 2000, he served as a lobbyist for the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) with responsibility for the Department of Transportation and the White House.
Gayton has served on more than 60 boards and committees of cultural, civic, charitable, political, and professional organizations including the Seattle Repertory Theatre, the NAACP, Boy Scouts of America, the 1990 Goodwill Games, the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) and the Executive Committee of the National Advisory Council for the U.S Small Business Administration. This has also included tenures of service as president of the East Madison YMCA, PONCHO (Patrons of Northwest Civic, Cultural, and Charitable Organizations) and most recently, Chairman of the nine-member Advisory Board of the Ninth Circuit Federal Courts.
Gayton earned a B.A. in political science from the University of Washington (UW) and a J.D. from Gonzaga Law School. He has received numerous honors and awards and most recently received the 2005 Distinguished Alumni Award from the UW political science department.
