Seattle tech leaders on how Megan Rapinoe inspired them | Epic Games’ layoffs hit Seattle-area office

Amazon starts moving employees from Seattle to Bellevue | Alaska Airlines launches accelerator ADVERTISEMENT [GeekWire]( SPONSOR MESSAGE: The GeekWire Summit returns October 19th! We're assembling some of the top names in artificial intelligence for the half-day summit, taking place in downtown Seattle: [Get your tickets today!]( TODAY'S TOP STORIES Happy Friday, GeekWire readers. Amazon is launching satellites into space and moving employees into new offices in Bellevue; Microsoft is nearing completion of a giant acquisition; and we ask Seattle tech leaders about the impact of a legendary soccer player. Megan Rapinoe’s reign is drawing to a close. But the global soccer star’s influence and activism is sure to continue to be felt on and off the pitch. As she plays her last regular season home match for the OL Reign at Lumen Field in Seattle tonight, GeekWire reached out to tech leaders to ask how Rapinoe has inspired them and what lessons they draw from her to apply to their own lives and careers. - "Being a true ally isn’t about using your platform when it’s easy — it’s about using your platform and privilege when it’s hard — when there’s the very real possibility that doing so might come at a cost.” — Laura Clise, Intentionalist. - "She has an unabashed and seemingly fearless confidence to be her authentic self, speak her mind and use her voice to advocate for equity off the field, all while excelling to the highest levels of her profession on the field.” — Chrissy Vaughn, Smartsheet. - GeekWire’s website colors have been changed to celebrate Rapinoe. [Read more.]( Amazon news: - First launch of Project Kuiper satellites: Two prototype satellites are due to ride a rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida into low Earth orbit at 11 a.m. PT today. [Read more about the launch]( and check back on GeekWire for updates. - Employees start moving from Seattle to Bellevue: Despite an ongoing pause in the construction of numerous new office buildings, Amazon now has more than 1,000 employees working in the 555 Tower in the city east of Seattle. [Read more](. Epic Games layoffs hit Bellevue office: A new filing reveals that 39 employees in Washington state were affected by recent cuts at the Fornite maker. [Read more](. Stoke Space fuels up with $100M: The Kent, Wash.-based company will use the fresh cash to develop a new breed of fully reusable rockets and aim to reach orbit by 2025. [Read more](. Alaska Airlines launches startup accelerator: The Seattle-based airline is partnering with a Los Angeles startup studio to fuel new aviation-focused companies. [Read more](. Tech Moves: Former Sprint CEO rejoins F5 board; another Flexport exec is out; [and more key personnel changes](. Hot Links: - Microsoft plans to finalize its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard next week. ([The Verge]( - Apple backed away from a potential deal to buy Bing from Microsoft, according to previously confidential records unsealed in the U.S. v. Google antitrust case. ([CNN]( Thanks for [subscribing]( to the GeekWire newsletter, and have a great weekend. — GeekWire managing editor Taylor Soper, taylor@geekwire.com; and GeekWire reporter Kurt Schlosser, kurt@geekwire.com. SPONSOR MESSAGE [Ready to let Ai work for you?]( Dialpad is the leading Ai-Powered Customer Intelligence Platform transforming how the world works together. 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[Give our free trial a spin.]( LATEST HEADLINES [Tech Moves: Former Sprint CEO rejoins F5 board; Flexport engineering exec departs; and more]( [Life goals: Megan Rapinoe says goodbye to soccer, and Seattle tech leaders share how she inspired]( [Follow the countdown to the first launch of Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites]( [Epic Games’ layoffs hit its Seattle-area office, affecting 39 employees]( [Alaska Airlines launches aviation-focused startup program with Los Angeles venture lab]( [Stoke Space fuels up with $100M in funding in quest to build fully reusable rockets]( [Amazon begins shifting 2,000 employees from Seattle to new Bellevue office towers]( GEEKWORK: TODAY'S TECH JOBS - [NTTA- North Texas Tollway Authority: Sr ETL & Data Modeling Developer]( - [INRIX: Product Marketing Manager, Public Sector]( - [Council for the Advancement of Science Writing: Communications Coordinator]( - [INRIX: Lead Software Engineer]( - [GeekWork: Senior Backend Engineer]( - [City of Redlands: IT Systems Supervisor]( - [City of Redlands: Network Engineer]( - [City of Portland Water Bureau: Technology Manager]( [FIND MORE JOBS ON GEEKWORK]( [HIRING? 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