Yuliana Flores-Montes named 2026 Emerging Leader for Snohomish County
Published 12:30 pm Wednesday, April 8, 2026
EVERETT — Yuliana Flores-Montes was named the 2026 winner of the Emerging Leaders Award in front of approximately 150 people at APEX Everett.
Flores-Montes was moved to tears as she walked up to accept her award.
“I am very, very surprised,” She said in her acceptance speech. “… Today, I am very thankful and humbled to receive this.”
The Emerging Leaders award, now in its 11th year and sponsored by The Herald Business Journal and CommonUnity, celebrates individuals under 40 doing good work in Snohomish County. From 12 finalists, the field is reduced to four finalists before the winner is announced Tuesday.
This year, the race between the 12 finalists was close, with the difference being down to the “second digit of the decimal point,” said Amy Drewel, the owner of Mosaic Insurance Alliance, before announcing the winner.
After receiving the award, Flores-Montes thanked her mother.
“My leadership journey has been thanks to her,” she said. “I was translating for her when I was 8 years old, and she opened the doors, I say, for me, in the health care I wanted to help people. I fell in love with it, and I knew it would make a change.”
Flores-Montes has worked at Optum for 20 years, helping patients with financial assistance and providing payment options. She also works as a notary, helping patients with their Letters of Last Wishes during their final days, with adoption paperwork and with the Hispanic community’s immigration paperwork.
“My patients, I am their servant as a leader,” she said. “And I love helping people as a notary. I met so many, many wonderful people.”
For Ryan Crowther, one of the founders of the award, Tuesday was a chance to see the hard work and planning for the awards come together, he said.
“A lot of work goes into this event,” Crowther said. “And tonight is when it all sort of comes to life, and we get to hear the stories of all these leaders and celebrate all they’ve done for the community.”
In addition to Flores-Montes, the other three finalists were Autumn Nash, a software engineer at Microsoft’s Azure Linux, Kyle Roscoe, the executive director of the Everett Recovery Cafe and Conor O’Neill, the owner of The Cottage, Community Bakery.
After graduating high school at 16 years old, Flores-Montes went on to support other students by creating her own $1,500 scholarship with Lynnwood High School that was open to all English-as-a-second-language, learning-support and special-needs students. The scholarship was available for five years.
The 2026 Emerging Leaders awards received more than 100 nominations and close to 50 applications, event coordinator Kathy Solberg said in an email.
Solberg is the CEO and community weaver at CommonUnity.
“To see the future of Snohomish County on that stage,” Solberg said. “And to let our community see how bright the future of our region can be a gift and is important. We all need to take the time to notice the people around us the work they’re doing and figure out how to hold them up.”
Flores-Montes’ leadership journey will continue through her work as a notary and in health care.
“I will do more,” she said at the end of her speech. “I will have a seat at the table.”
Jenna Millikan: 425-339-3035; jenna.millikan@heraldnet.com. X: @JennaMillikan
