MIA GREGERSON

Local Lawmaker Giving Back to Her Community

State politician Mia Gregerson is a familiar face in the community she serves.

Gregerson, a Democrat, has represented the 33rd Legislative District since 2013. The district includes SeaTac, Normandy Park, Des Moines, and parts of Kent, Burien, Renton, and unincorporated King County.

The 52-year-old Highline College alum and SeaTac resident is one of four generations of her family from the South King County area. 

Gregerson graduated from Highline College in 1997 with an associate degree. She said she chose to attend Highline because it was “right in my backyard, it made a lot of sense.” In fact, going to Highline has been a family affair, with both her mother and her daughter also attending the college.

Following a 20-year career in the dental field, Gregerson said she got into politics “kind of by accident.” Her neighbor at the time was King County council member Julie Patterson, who asked Gregerson if she was interested in running for SeaTac City Council. Gregerson took up the challenge and in 2008 was successful in being elected mayor, a position she held until 2016.

Gregerson said she’s very lucky to be politically active in her local area, and that means “really recognizing the people that live here. Their stories. There’s beauty and resilience. (SeaTac) is the first spot for so many of our new Americans.”

She noted that she was lucky to be adopted as a baby from Taiwan—and that being an elected official puts her in a position to “give back” and help her community. 

Many of her legislative accomplishments include serving as Chair of the House Members of Color Caucus and Vice Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, expanding voting rights, ensuring residents are housed, helping to establish Washington’s first Office of Equity, championing statewide digital equity, and being part of the so-called “food fighters” who work together on legislation to help the food insecure.

Reminiscing on her time at Highline College, Gregerson said she “was just trying to get through college, like so many people.” 

“I remember attending the graduation and my daughter was two and she was running around on the grass. It was so much fun. My parents were there,” Gregerson said.

After graduating Highline, Gregerson transferred to University of Washington where she earned a history degree. She said that she has maintained a relationship with Highline throughout the years.

“Every year T.M. Sell, a political science instructor, would ask all of the elected officials to come to Highline. That was a touchpoint of my career—every year coming back to speak to the students. I remember us doing some voter registration, “ she said. 

In fact, Gregerson was recently at Highline College for a Community Town Hall it hosted in March. Gregerson said that Town Halls around the state have had record amounts of attendance from those “wanting to gather, to listen, to be heard and to be reassured this government is not going to leave them behind.”

High on her list of issues to address is homelessness and also the digital divide, where members of the community are being held back by their lack of access to devices. 

Her advice to current students is that “education is something no one can take away from you. It’s a very empowering (piece of advice), being a woman of color growing up in the 80s and 90s. It's something I always lean back on.”

Photo credit: Washington State LSS Photography.

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