Martin Luther King Jr. Medal of Distinguished Service goes to Ken and Jesse Johnson
Published 8:50 am Thursday, June 4, 2026
King County Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer awarded Ken and Jesse Johnson with the Martin Luther King Jr. Medal of Distinguished Service, an award that recognizes individuals whose work has answered the question asked by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “What are you doing for others?”
“Ken and Jesse Johnson have responded to Dr. King’s question by dedicating themselves to advocating for high school pre-apprenticeship trades programs in the Federal Way School District, which is giving students access to family-wage jobs,” Councilmember von Reichbauer said.
Ken Johnson, the 7th of 13 siblings, grew up in Kirkland, Washington, learning hard work in the family landscaping and scrap metal business. Ken graduated from Interlake High School in 1978 and briefly attended Bellevue Community College. He began his career as an apprentice painter in 1979, later working as a paint tinter and salesman. Over the years, he advanced to journeyman painter, foreman, superintendent, project manager, and operations manager at Washington Commercial Painters until June 2022. He contributed to the Construction Industry Training Council (CITC) Apprenticeship Program and, after retirement, founded Transformers Painting and Pressure Washing LLC, employing three of his children as apprentices. Ken is proud of his son Jesse, who founded a pre-apprenticeship program to help youths gain early exposure to trades.
Former State Representative Jesse Johnson is the eldest of Ken and Lucrecia Johnson’s four children. He grew up in Federal Way and was student body president at Federal Way High School. He holds a bachelor’s in political science and a master’s in education from the University of Washington. At 27, he became the youngest Federal Way City Councilmember and later the youngest member of the Washington State Legislature. Currently, he serves as the Director of Outreach and Community Engagement for the Office of the State Treasurer. Inspired by his family’s experiences with the benefits of skilled trades apprenticeships, Jesse started to champion the expansion of these programs within the Federal Way School District and the wider South King County community. Jesse is married to Epiphany, a family medicine doctor, and is a devoted father to their two sons, Elijah and Ezra.
This marks the 11th year that councilmembers have each selected someone from their district whose work embodies the spirit of King’s question.
