Seattle has changed a lot in the last 50 years. We’re now a world-class city competing on a global stage in business, culture, philanthropy and lifestyle. It’s hard to believe that almost 50 years ago, an iconic billboard humbly requested: “Will the last person leaving Seattle turn off the lights?” Talk about a reinvention!

As we at Laird Norton Wealth Management celebrate our 50^th Anniversary this year, we’ve been talking a lot about the past. What’s shaped our region and made it what it is today? Is it the technology boom? The coffee? The music? Or is it the passionate people who live here, choosing to call the Pacific Northwest home knowing they can change the world from our little corner of the country?

The answer is all the above! It’s the ideas, individuals and institutions, all working together, that reinvented the Northwest time and time again. And as we celebrate our first half century, we’re intensely curious about what’s next.

In the coming months, we’ll be sharing stories that celebrate the ideas, individuals and institutions that could shape the next 50 years, and we want you to join us. There are no nominations, and no wrong answers. Simply tell us what – or who – you think will shape the next 50 years of the Pacific Northwest by entering a comment below, emailing us or following us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Make sure to tag your social media posts with #Future50NW so we can collect all your stories in one place.

If past is prologue, the future will be remarkable. The Pacific Northwest is known for reinvention, and it’s the collective spirit of ideas, individuals and institutions here that bring it to life. We’re excited to get a community-wide conversation started and hope you’ll play a part in it.