June 2, 2026
IAL Alumna Mikaela Purvis Is Helping Seattle Put Its Best Foot Forward This World Cup Season
“I travel a lot,“ Purvis said. “And every time I come home, this is the most beautiful area to be a part of. I just want the opportunity to show people that.”
Over the past year, Mikaela Purvis has dedicated herself to making sure the Seattle World Cup experience delivers — both in accordance with FIFA’s expectations and as a reflection of the beauty and culture of the Pacific Northwest.
“My role, particularly, is overseeing events that are happening outside the stadium,” said Purvis, who’s spent the past nine months as Chief Experience Officer for Seattle FIFA World Cup 26™. “Everything outside the stadium is what our local organizing committee works on — just making sure that all the different entities understand and develop plans to be able to have a great experience.”
As a Washington state native, University of Washington Intercollegiate Athletic Leadership (IAL) M.Ed. program alum, and decade-plus-long sports administration professional, Purvis has a background perfectly suited for a project of such international grandeur.
She educates local businesses and officials on upcoming events taking place outside Lumen Field, preparing them for the influx of tourism and visibility on its way this June. Purvis’ responsibility, she says, is an investment in the state of Washington and the city of Seattle.
A large part of that investment will pay off in the wide range of fan celebrations taking place across the city. From watch parties at local venues to mile-long marches to the matches themselves, Purvis works to ensure that the World Cup experience extends outward from the stadium and into the neighborhood streets and alleyways across the city.
“One of our goals as a local organizing committee is to educate people and to try to incentivize exploring local neighborhoods,” she said. “Get out of downtown. Get out of the hotel and stadium district. Go explore what Seattle truly has to offer.”
Having grown up in Spokane and gone to school in Seattle, Purvis has decades of intimate familiarity with the endless range of blue-green peaks, pebble-coated coastlines, and vast plains that make the state of Washington so hypnotic. Part of her excitement surrounding her position with FIFA involves demonstrating that beauty to, quite literally, the rest of the world.
“I travel a lot,” she said. “And every time I come home, this is the most beautiful area to be a part of. I just want the opportunity to show people that.”
Purvis also has no shortage of knowledge surrounding high-profile event orchestration. She spent a dozen years working her way up, around, and through the Seattle Sounders’ organization, directing or serving as vice president for practically every department a sports entity has up for management.
Her time with the Sounders has consisted of numerous opportunities to put on events and competitions on some of the industry’s highest visibility stages. But in the tightly packed hours of event execution, she says, it’s hard to find time to stop and actually look beyond the task at hand — to soak up all the hard work she’s put in to make other people’s experiences memorable.
Purvis claims her favorite part of her job is witnessing the passion emanating from different fanbases at the events she plans and executes. It’s what led her to the IAL program, her job with the Sounders, and, ultimately, her current position with FIFA.
“I joke that I picked the one job where I am permanently outside the stadium,” Purvis said. “For me, it’s all about creating those moments: it can be as small as a kid getting their face painted and thinking it’s the coolest thing ever, to having a safe and secure march that gets all the supporters to the building without any incidents.”
Purvis got her first look into the inner workings of planning and putting on successful sporting events as an Operations Manager with Seattle University Recreation. As a collegiate tennis player, she’d had a lifetime of experience with sports but had never worked on the back end of the industry. So when she saw what went into the job, as well as the way it uplifted and inspired fans and players, she was enticed to learn more.
Right after her undergraduate career came to a close, Purvis applied to the IAL M.Ed. program and continued her pursuit of a career in a field that she refers to as ‘the ultimate group project.’
“It’s amazing how small the sports world is,” she said. “It’s just all about making sure you have good relationships with folks, and I really learned that at the IAL program. You can’t do this by yourself.”
Thirteen years after her IAL graduation ceremony, Purvis finds herself responsible for representing her city as host to one of the marquee events of modern world — not just sports — history. And she can’t wait to present what may be her biggest group project yet.
“How often can you say the World Cup is here? How often can you say your city hosted it?” Purvis asked. “I’m mostly just excited for how the city of Seattle shows up outside the building and how we create a welcoming environment to all our international friends.”
Her passion for sports administration was never something she foresaw as a kid. Even now, she says, a lot of her work doesn’t necessarily make headlines. But it’s integral to making the moments and events mean more and last longer as memories.
“I was never that kid who, at the age of eight, was like, ‘I wanna do this,’” she said. “But I’m very lucky that my decisions have ended up with me here — creating inclusive experiences for people, so people of all walks of life can come and enjoy.”
With the tournament rapidly approaching, Purvis encourages locals to get involved with the wide range of Seattle FIFA World Cup 26™ events and games that the organizing committee is offering, which can be found in more detail on the event website. Download the SEA & WIN app, participate in the March to the Match, and spectate at one of the city’s four watch party locations. The goal, Purvis says, is to look back on the summer of 2026 as a moment that fans — local and international alike — will remember as a shared celebration of culture, whether they were inside the stadium or not.
Meanwhile, Purvis suspects she’ll be too busy to notice when an international spectator snaps a photo of the Olympic Mountain Range from their seats in Lumen Field. Or when a business-owner in Pioneer Square sells ice cream to a parade-goer from across the world, or when City of Seattle transportation officials kick their feet up and watch the matches unfold from their perch at the Pacific Place fan celebration.
Sometimes, truly, the hardest part of her job is taking a moment off and soaking it all in.
“Overall, in my career, those [I’ve made it] moments tend to come really quietly,” Purvis said. “It might just be a moment when you’re standing on the field, looking at all the people in the building, realizing — you had a huge part in that.”