Tricia McGinnis came to campus as a college freshman believing she would major in business.
“I naively registered for calculus without having any pre-calculus in high school,” she recalls. “I remember that awful feeling in class of being lost, and I seriously questioned whether I was cut out for college. It was disheartening for me, wondering if I really belonged on campus.”
Those doubts disappeared at Washington State University after she met her mentor during a chance encounter on what she calls “a fateful walk” around campus. She peeked into what was then the communication department and found Ed Bannister, associate professor from 1969 to 1977, in his office. Bannister had started an advertising internship program that became one of the best in the country.
“He inspired me to explore my potential and gave me confidence to take risks and change majors. I left his office excited and clear about what I wanted to do,” recalls Raikes, who minored in business and majored in communications, specializing in advertising. “I left WSU determined to be one of the country’s top advertising executives. The habits I learned at WSU have been central to how I work and how I approach the complex systems we are trying to address at the Raikes Foundation.”
Tricia (McGinnis) Raikes (’78 Comm.), together with her husband Jeff, co-founded the Seattle-based Raikes Foundation, which is committed to helping young people learn, grow, and thrive by strengthening schools and ensuring access to safe, stable housing.
“Those are the two most powerful levers for helping young people reach their full potential,” Raikes says. “Access to a quality public education is a fundamental right, and there are a lot of barriers right now for many of our young people. Furthermore, it’s hard to be productive and succeed in school without safe and stable housing.”
For her contributions toward advancing education and laying the groundwork for long-term change, Raikes is the recipient of the 2025 Regents Distinguished Alumna Award, the highest honor WSU presents to alumni. The award was presented during a special reception November 4 in Seattle.
“Tricia embodies so many of WSU’s core values—improving the human condition, achieving a just society, and enriching the region we call home,” former WSU President Kirk Schulz wrote in his nomination letter. “Her commitment to educating herself about systemic challenges and her willingness to dedicate considerable resources and energy to helping solve them is an exceptional demonstration of the Cougar spirit.”
At WSU, Bannister expanded her sense of possibility, prompting Raikes to dream bigger than she had ever imagined. At home, her mother modeled quiet leadership, showing her the value of serving the community. Both pillars prepared her for a lifetime of advocacy and philanthropy, making a difference—particularly for young people—throughout the state and across the country.
“My mom was the consummate volunteer, and she had no problem volunteering her kids,” says Raikes, an Edward R. Murrow College of Communication Hall of Achievement inductee and former trustee of the WSU Foundation. Her mom “always raised her hand to volunteer for the March of Dimes, United Way, and many other charitable organizations. She did a lot of fundraising, and I was often by her side. She and my dad modeled the importance and responsibility of giving back and treating people with care. It’s small consistent acts of care that matter most. Those are the lessons that guide how I show up. Those were all things we did just because they were the right thing to do.”
Raikes grew up in a modest Catholic family in Seattle. Her parents valued hard work, education, and service, says Raikes, a third-generation Seattleite and self-described “jeans-and-sweatshirt” kind of gal. “Service was part of everyday life. It was just something that was expected.”
After graduating from Seattle’s Bishop Blanchet High School, Raikes followed in her older brother’s footsteps. Brian McGinnis (’77 Hosp. Busi. Mgmt.) went to WSU, along with several extended family members, and “really loved it. I was influenced by his experience. And the notion of leaving Seattle and living across the state was an exciting prospect to me.”
Raikes has never forgotten the first time she drove from Seattle to Pullman, watching the landscape morph into the rolling hills of the Palouse. “What stands out is just the opportunity to go to college at all,” she says. “Growing up in a working-class family, it was not something that I took lightly.”
Raikes paid for college through a mix of scholarships and loans, working her way through all four years on the fourth floor of the Holland Library.
Two other highlights of her college experience took her away from Pullman, expanding her worldview. First was a semester in Mexico City. Second was an advertising internship in Seattle, arranged through Bannister’s program.
“Both were game changers for me,” she says. “They really set my life on the trajectory that led me to where I am today, and I am so deeply grateful for it. I understand how lucky I was to have a quality education that was accessible. WSU gave me the opportunity to learn and grow, dream big, challenge myself, and really think about what was possible. I view my experience in Pullman as launching myself into the future. I was so excited to take on the world when I left campus.”
After starting her career at advertising firms in Seattle and New York City, Raikes joined Microsoft in 1981 to develop a creative services department. Jeff joined the same year. He became president of Microsoft’s business division, then served as CEO of the Gates Foundation from 2008 to 2014.
She left Microsoft in 1987 to focus on family, the foundation, and business interests. The Raikeses are part of the Seattle Mariners ownership group and have a farm in Nebraska for row crops, cattle, and online sales of American wagyu. They also own and operate Alderbrook Resort and Spa on Hood Canal.
In 2002, they launched Raikes Foundation, which is committed to helping youth have the voice, choice, and power to shape the decisions that affect their lives. “We’re committed to returning the majority of our wealth back to society,” Raikes says. “And we believe in putting our resources to work now. We’re a giving-in-time philanthropy. It gives us and our team a greater sense of urgency and focus.”
In 2017, the couple co-founded Giving Compass to connect prospective donors with nonprofit organizations nationwide.
“I think we are all called,” Raikes says. “We all have a role to play in caring for others, especially young people, and the time couldn’t be more important than now. It’s a challenging time, and there’s opportunity for all of us—especially Cougs—to take action according to our means and availability. I think we can all reach back to our roots and our connection to WSU, and decide to defend and strengthen public universities like WSU so they can continue to serve all students, including those from working families and rural communities, so they can find their voices and explore their future opportunities.”
She and the foundation have no plans to slow down. “We plan to stay the course and do what we can to move progress forward,” Raikes says. “Our hope is that we will be able to look back at improved, inclusive pathways for young people, particularly young people who have been the further from opportunity, so they can reach their full potential.”
Raikes has been widely recognized for her efforts. The Obama Administration recognized her as a “White House Champion of Change” for her work to prevent youth homelessness. She also received the 2017 Ginger Ackerley Community Service Award from the Seattle Storm women’s basketball team. Puget Sound Business Journal designated Raikes a “Woman of Influence.” Inside Philanthropy listed her as one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Philanthropy.” And the WSU Foundation recognized both she and Jeff with its Outstanding Service Award. This year, they are recipients of the Blake Nordstrom Humanitarian Award.
In her nomination letter for the 2025 Regents Distinguished Alumna Award, Victoria Miles (’93 Comm.), associate vice president of principal giving for the WSU Foundation, wrote, “Tricia approaches her philanthropy with humility, understanding that serving the underserved requires empathy, compassion and team building. She tirelessly works toward a just and inclusive society where all young people have the support they need.”
Raikes says she’s humbled by this recognition.
“It’s deeply meaningful to be honored by the university that helped shape who I am,” she says. “I see this as a reflection of the many people who invested in me and opened doors along the way, and I’m so grateful. I think about the student I once was—curious, eager to learn, and finding her place in the world—and I hope it reminds other students, especially women and first-generation students, that they already have what it takes to thrive and that it is their curiosity and drive that will take them farther than they can imagine.”