Maya Mendoza-Exstrom ’03
Professional Achievement (Mid-Career)
Soccer was the first love of Maya Mendoza-Exstrom ’03, and it never let her go. It carried her from childhood teams in western Washington to championship squads at the University of Puget Sound, then into coaching roles after graduation and ultimately into a career dedicated to advancing the game.
After earning her law degree and spending seven years in private practice, Mendoza-Exstrom went on to work 11 seasons with the Seattle Sounders — three as the club’s chief operating officer. She is now the chief business officer for Seattle Reign FC. She also chaired the successful bid for Seattle to host the World Cup and is a member of the city’s 2026 FIFA World Cup Host Committee City Board (see story on p. 18). In addition, Mendoza-Exstrom contributes her expertise to a number of boards and nonprofits, including the RAVE Foundation, the Reign’s and Sounders’ charitable arm, which works to build small and innovative soccer fields designed for free community play.
“I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up,” says Mendoza-Exstrom with a laugh. But professors like Mott Green and Nancy Bristow, who supported her development as both a committed student and an All-American athlete at Puget Sound, “meant the world to me,” she explains, and that is “probably why I am still working in this game. I can’t quite quit this game, because it’s as much academic and intellectual to me as it is a physical sport.”