Amy Liu is Interim President of the Brookings Institution. Amy most recently served as Vice President and Director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings and the Adeline M. and Alfred I. Johnson Chair in Urban and Metropolitan Policy. She is a national expert on cities and metropolitan areas, adept at translating research and insights into action on the ground.

As director of the Metropolitan Policy Program, which Amy co-founded in 1996, she pioneered the program’s signature approach to state and local engagements, which uses rigorous research to inform strategies for economic growth and opportunity. Amy has worked directly on such strategies with scores of public-, private-, and philanthropic-sector leaders in regions around the country, including Chicago, Detroit, Louisville, San Diego, and Birmingham. She also has extensive experience working with states and the federal government to develop policies and strategies to support cities and metropolitan areas.

In 2013, Amy served as a special advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, guiding policy priorities related to trade, innovation, and data. Prior to her work at Brookings, she was Special Assistant to HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros and staffed the U.S. Senate Banking Committee’s subcommittee on housing and urban affairs.

 

Amy Liu is a presidential advisor and senior fellow at The Brookings Institution. In her current role, she advises executive leadership and oversees multi-program initiatives that bring together the institution’s leading expertise and collaborative approaches to key domestic and international challenges. Most recently, Liu served as interim president of Brookings.

Liu has nearly three decades of experience as a scholar and executive committed to improving public policies and governance at the local, national, and global levels. As interim president for 18 months, Liu led the institution’s strategic assessment and adaptation to a changing landscape and helped it remain strong for its next chapter. In close partnership with staff and board of trustees leadership, Liu prioritized initiatives that would elevate Brookings’s impact during a period of global crises and intense polarization. She prioritized safeguarding trust and credibility in Brookings’s research, including the development of new guidelines for researchers and staff in their responsible use of generative AI. Liu also furthered efforts to develop a high-quality workplace in which all employees can collaborate and do their best work, both at home and in the office.

Prior to July 2022, Liu served as vice president and director of Brookings Metro and the Adeline M. and Alfred I. Johnson Chair in Urban and Metropolitan Policy. Liu co-founded Brookings Metro in 1996 and built what is today a leading resource for leaders across government, business, and civil society interested in promoting prosperous, just, and resilient communities. The program has built a track record of impact by marrying trusted analyses, civic engagements, and national policy expertise.

Liu is a national expert on cities and metropolitan areas and the interplay of national, state, and local policies in expanding economic opportunities in places. She has collaborated with leaders across the U.S. to translate research insights into action and has written frequently 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 latest report quantifies the value of metro economies to all 50 states and the nation. Liu’s essay on CEO actions to promote racial equity in home regions attracted interests from CEO groups in metros around the country. 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 local economic developers towards the prospects of existing workers and businesses. 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. This included 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.

EDUCATION:

• BS in Social Policy, Northwestern University

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