Mayor Angela Birney has selected Amy Tsai to serve as the City of Redmond’s new chief policy advisor.

Tsai, who has served as a key strategic policy advisor to elected and appointed officials in Washington state for more than a decade, begins the role today, March 9. Tsai’s responsibilities include advising the Mayor, City Council, and staff on a broad range of policy issues.

“It is a pleasure to welcome Amy to our Redmond team,” said Mayor Angela Birney. “Her experience producing high-quality, non-partisan regional policy analysis will help advance us towards our community’s vision.”

As the deputy inspector general for the City of Seattle, Tsai became the first woman and first Asian American in that role, where she helped create the new Office of Inspector General for Public Safety, which is charged with systemic police oversight. Prior to that, she worked for a decade as central staff to the King County Council and Seattle City Council.

Her legislative portfolio spans many areas of government including capital project oversight, wastewater, public health, arts and culture, and more.

Tsai holds a Ph.D. in Psychology and J.D. from the University of Washington. For her work staffing legislation to create the City of Seattle’s police accountability system, Tsai was recognized by the Seattle Met magazine as among “The 50 Most Influential Women in Seattle.”

She recently joined the Board for Benefits Law Center, which engages in Social Security legal advocacy for people with disabilities who are experiencing homelessness or who are low-income.