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Amy Liu

Presidential Advisor and Senior Fellow – The Brookings Institution, Brookings Metro

Amy Liu is a presidential advisor and senior fellow at The Brookings Institution. She advises executive leadership and oversees institution-wide initiatives that bring together leading experts and collaborative approaches to addressing key domestic and international challenges.

Liu has nearly three decades of experience as both a scholar and executive, committed to improving governance and public policies at the local, national, and global levels. Most recently, she served as interim president of Brookings, where she guided the institution for 18 months through a period of adaptation and change, leaving it stronger for its next chapter of leadership.

Prior to July 2022, Liu served as vice president and director of Brookings Metro, which she co-founded in 1996. Today, the program is a leading resource for public and private sector leaders interested in promoting prosperous, just, and resilient communities. The program has built a track record of impact by marrying research, civic engagements, and national policy expertise.

Liu is an expert on cities and metropolitan areas and the interplay of national, state, and local policies in expanding economic opportunity. She has worked with leaders across the U.S. to translate research insights into action and written extensively about the future of post-pandemic cities, inclusive economic growth, state and local cooperation, and the role of federal policies in supporting place-based revitalization across urban and rural areas. Liu’s paper, “Remaking Economic Development,” spurred the development of new metrics for defining quality economic performance for metro areas and inspired widespread shifts in the goals and practices of many economic developers. Liu has published in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Bloomberg News, and has been cited in The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, and other national and local media platforms.

Liu also served several stints in the federal government, including time as a special advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and as staff in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Senate Banking Committee’s subcommittee on housing and urban affairs.

Liu serves on several nonprofit boards and advisory councils, such as JUST Capital, Equal Measure, the University of Illinois System President’s Advisory Council, and the Inclusive Abundance Initiative. Liu has received numerous accolades for her work over the years, including being named to Washington Business Journal’s 2021 class of Women Who Mean Business awardees.

Liu holds a Bachelor of Science degree in social policy with a concentration in urban studies from Northwestern University. In 2015, Liu completed the High Impact Leadership Program at Columbia Business School. She lives in Alexandria, VA with her husband and two daughters.

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