Summer of Soccer with our SEA Ambassadors

Traveling through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) in the summer is always busy, but this summer brought something truly extraordinary — an unprecedented number of visitors arriving for the world’s biggest soccer tournament! The team ensured that travelers had an efficient and trouble-free experience through the airport by increasing the number of people welcoming and supporting travelers! 

So, from June 11th to July 8th SEA expanded its volunteer presence, adding friendly faces through its SEA Ambassador program — a short-term volunteer program specifically to support the airport with an influx of travelers during the summer of soccer. SEA Ambassadors helped soccer fans and all travelers feel confident, informed, and excited by helping with wayfinding, general travel questions, and tourism tips. Meet five of the superstar SEA Ambassadors as they share their experience volunteering at the airport during this once-in-a-lifetime moment!

Why did you become an ambassador and how was your experience?

Addis Kassa

“I was actually looking for a part-time job at the airport when I came across the SEA Ambassador program. I subscribed to receive emails about job opportunities and couldn’t find the right fit. So as I was waiting for a job, I thought it made sense to get involved as a volunteer. Then I saw the SEA Ambassador program pop up! I like soccer, it’s nearby, and I was looking for an opportunity to serve anyway so it made sense!

The SEA Ambassador program was a natural fit for me. I got a lot of satisfaction from helping people get what they need or to where they needed to go. I loved interacting with people and giving our passengers a sense of relief by offering my support. I ended up getting offered a job at the airport but I declined it to continue being an SEA Ambassador and I think I made the right choice! I look forward to continuing to volunteer at SEA!”

Tim Rasmussen

“I heard about the SEA Ambassador program through the FlySEA app and I felt it was going to be a fun opportunity to serve the community! Plus, being newly retired, I needed something to get me out of the house. 

After completing the program, I was impressed with the organization of the program and how much thought went into it! From the training to being out on the floor, I felt ready to assist people at our airport. One story I’ll hold on to is when a mother and daughter came up to me and mentioned a family member who was coming to get them was stuck in traffic in Issaquah over an hour away. So, I directed them to the Link light rail and told them to transfer over to the 2 Line so their family member could just meet them in Bellevue. I just loved making their lives more seamless.

During my time as an SEA Ambassador, many people thanked me, and some were generally surprised I was choosing to volunteer my time at SEA. I just find a lot of value in serving and that experience makes me want to become an SEA Volunteer in the future.”

Mari Hagen

“My daughter, who volunteers in many different capacities, told me about the SEA Ambassador opportunity and I was all in! Being an SEA Ambassador made a lot of sense to me. I’m a retired social worker so I enjoy serving others, but I also love to travel. Being able to serve people who are traveling seemed like the best of both worlds.

Being an ambassador was great! What I loved most was helping folks whose first language wasn’t English. Helping them understand where they needed to go or even just taking them where they needed to go was a lot of fun. It was some people’s first time in America and to show them kindness and goodwill was important to me because I feel the world needs that. I truly loved it!"

Leslie Cisneros

“I was looking for job opportunities, and this volunteer opportunity came up. I thought this would give me a good background of what it would be like working in the airport environment.

Getting firsthand experience in a customer service capacity was really humbling because it showed me some of the challenges travelers can face. The airport can be stressful so helping someone in their time of need and making sure they’re cared for matters a lot to me. I also love being at the airport! It feels like being in a portal that allows you to be anywhere around the world in any given moment. One of my favorite things was receiving thanks in a different language. Being thanked in Spanish, Korean, Japanese, or even with an accent was endearing because I may have been someone’s first friendly face in Seattle or in our country!”

Jasveer Mudhar

“About five years ago I retired from King Country Metro after 28 years, so I’ve had lots of free time in my schedule. One day, I received an email about the SEA Ambassador program, and my wife encouraged me to do it. My wife used to work security at SEA some decades ago, so she felt that I was going to have a great time at the airport.

Well, if she knew how much fun I was going to have she probably wouldn’t have encouraged me to be an Ambassador because after my first shift, I wanted to volunteer every day! I loved talking to people, supporting the passengers, and just helping them as much as possible! I remember there was a time I was on the floor and there was an elderly woman that needed help getting to her gate and she didn’t have very much strength to walk. So, I found a wheelchair agent, and they were able to track down a different wheelchair agent who could take her to her gate. I had an amazing experience as an Ambassador, and I will definitely look to become an SEA volunteer!”

Addis, Tim, Mari, Leslie, and Jasveer are just a few of the many generous Ambassadors who gave their time to serve SEA. Over the 28 days of the program: