APAICS president & CEO Madalene Xuan-Trang Mielke interviews seasoned campaign and policy expert, Betsy Lin, about her career and insights for the next generation.

Betsy Lin Bio
Betsy comes with an over two decade track record in electoral and advocacy politics,
serving or running campaigns across the nation. Most recently, she served as executive
director to a non-profit in the civic engagement field, working with partner organizations
across eleven states, building an expanded organizational footprint and deepening
financial and political support among a broad range of stakeholders. She is the founder
of Breakwater Consulting, helping candidates, campaigns, and organizations thrive.
She started out in Washington state, helping to develop and support the first
coordinated work to identify voters in the state’s voter file, worked to organize health
care workers in southern California as part of SEIU’s historic organizing campaign, ran
the Alliance for a Better California campaign in Orange County, CA and served as field
director for Senator Akaka’s re-election in Hawaii in 2006.

Her work in Washington DC started in 2007 as a deputy political director for the
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, helping to directly elect Senators Kay
Hagan, Mark Udall, Tom Udall and Mark Warner in the 2008 cycle.

She served on Capitol Hill as senior policy advisor for Senator Byron Dorgan through
2010, managing his appropriations portfolio. After Senator Dorgan’s retirement, she
became chief of staff to Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, running her historic 2012
campaign to elect the first Asian American woman to serve in the U.S. Senate.

Betsy served as Senator Hirono’s top advisor for nearly seven years, building her
senate operation between Washington DC and Hawaii in to a professional staff of 46,
and managing the politics on Capitol Hill and in state.

Betsy was born the daughter of immigrants and raised in Washington state. When she’s
not on the campaign trail, you can find her in search of the perfect wave.