This story originally appeared as an opinion piece in the NW Asian Weekly.

by Linda Li, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Community Liaison

Traveling has always been my greatest passion. In November 2025, I visited Lugu Lake in southwest China, home to the Mosuo people and their centuries-old matrilineal culture. Surrounded by mountains and impossibly clear, blue water, I was struck not just by the beauty of the landscape, but by how differently the Mosuo organize daily life. Family lineage flows through women. Elders guide with quiet authority. Community decisions center care and shared responsibility.

I didn’t realize then how deeply that experience would shape my understanding of my work back home in Seattle, especially in my role as a Community Liaison.

The Mosuo challenged assumptions I had absorbed growing up in China about family, gender, and power. Their way of life reminded me that no single system for organizing society is universal, and that humility is essential when engaging across differences. That lesson resonates every day in Seattle’s Community Liaison program, where my colleagues and I bring our own languages, histories, and cultural frameworks into public service. Our diversity is not incidental; it is the foundation of how we communicate, find solutions, and build trust.

The Community Liaison program, within Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods, is rooted in a simple but powerful belief: Government works best when it honors the lived experiences of the people it serves. Just as Mosuo knowledge is passed through generations, our program relies on leaders who are deeply embedded in their communities. We bring insight, context, and credibility that the government alone cannot manufacture. We don’t just translate words; we translate meaning.

What makes the program transformative is its recognition of community leaders as social agents. We are not messengers delivering information from the top down. We are partners, co-creators, and bridges between institutions and people who have often been excluded from decision-making. This shift, from service delivery to shared responsibility, moves governance closer to equity and humanity.