Claire Sumadiwirya has spent more than 30 years in Bellevue, and over that time, her relationship with the city has taken on many forms. She grew up in Bridle Trails, now lives downtown with her three children, runs a business there, and serves on the Bellevue City Council.
Through each of those roles, the same question keeps coming up: What does this community need, and how can she help?
"My parents taught me this: love your neighbor," Sumadiwirya says. "Actually love them. Show up."
That mindset has shaped much of her career.
Sumadiwirya studied both business and sociology at the University of Washington before earning an MBA in accounting and finance from Seattle University. Her professional background has included finance, marketing, real estate, media and international business relations.
In 2016, she founded Bellden Ventures. A year later, she opened Bellden Café in downtown Bellevue.
From the beginning, the café had a community mission built into its business model. Bellden partners with more than 30 local nonprofits and focuses on workforce development, job readiness and economic opportunities for people from marginalized communities. The café also directs money from products and events toward local causes through the Bellden Community Fund.
For Sumadiwirya, a neighborhood café made sense as a place to do that work. People already came through the doors every day. They stayed for coffee, talked to each other and shared what was happening around Bellevue.
Many of Bellden's nonprofit partnerships began that casually.
Someone might walk in, order a latte and say, “Hey Claire, I heard you do stuff with the community. Can I help?"
Those conversations grew into fundraisers, volunteer opportunities and long-term relationships with local organizations.
Bellden has since become connected to causes involving food insecurity, housing, health care, education and workforce development. Sumadiwirya has also used the business to highlight the work of nonprofit partners and introduce customers to organizations they may not otherwise encounter.
The café's approach reflects a broader belief she has about business. A company can earn money while still taking responsibility for the place where it operates.
Bellden's own description of its social enterprise model emphasizes hiring from marginalized communities, job-readiness training and partnerships with local nonprofits. Its events and products also direct a portion of proceeds toward community causes.
That work extends well beyond the café.
Over the years, Sumadiwirya has been involved with organizations and initiatives connected to health care, immigrant and refugee communities, environmental access, economic development and human services. Her community involvement has included work with the Overlake Medical Center Foundation, Bellevue Downtown Association, Visit Bellevue, the King County Immigrant and Refugee Commission and the King County Open Space Equity Cabinet.
In April 2025, she joined the Bellevue City Council after being selected to fill a vacant seat. She was later elected to serve through the end of 2027.
Her move into city government gave her another way to work on issues she had already encountered through the café and nonprofit world.
"When you run a community cafe and you're on city council and you're raising three kids in this city, you see the gaps," Sumadiwirya says. "And once you see it, you either do something or you look away. I'm not great at looking away."
Those gaps can be easy to miss in Bellevue.
The city is known for major employers, new development and strong schools. Sumadiwirya says that image can hide how quickly some families can fall into financial instability.
"One lost benefit, one medical bill, and everything unravels," she says.
That reality influences the issues she focuses on in public service, including public safety, housing, mental health and human services, education, sustainable growth and quality of life.
She has described her larger vision for Bellevue as "a global city with a local heart,” language she has also used publicly while discussing the city's growth and changing population. In a 2026 city publication, Sumadiwirya wrote about Bellevue's international identity and the importance of maintaining strong local connections as the city grows.
For her, one of the clearest measures of a community is how its children are doing.
"A thriving Bellevue is a city where a kid doesn't sit in class hungry wondering if there's dinner tonight," she says.
That perspective has also shaped projects through Bellden. Last November, the café partnered with Bellevue LifeSpring on the Bellden Feed Bellevue campaign, created to support families facing food insecurity and possible reductions in SNAP benefits.
Sumadiwirya sees those efforts as part of the same work she now does in government. The café gives her direct contact with people and organizations in the community. City Council gives her a seat where larger decisions about housing, permitting, transportation, public safety and human services are discussed.
She has also taken that experience into a broader professional role. As of September 2026, Sumadiwirya serves as Vice President of Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship at Pioneer Human Services, where her work focuses on applying social-enterprise ideas within a larger human-services organization.
The scale may be different, but the basic approach is familiar.
Find the need. Bring people together. Figure out what can actually be done.
"I'm the person who walks into a room and says, 'Okay, what do we need?"" she says.
Thanksgiving often turns attention toward generosity for a few weeks each year. Sumadiwirya's work points to a version of giving that happens in smaller, repeated choices throughout the year: where people spend their money, which organizations they support, whether they volunteer, and whether they choose to get involved when they notice someone struggling.
For Sumadiwirya, that last part matters most.
Showing up can start with something as ordinary as a cup of coffee and a conversation. Sometimes that is enough to begin.