Seattle Regional Office

Kerstin Millius

Acting Regional Director

Kerstin Millius serves as the Acting Regional Director for the Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) Seattle Regional Office where she leads efforts to support regional economic growth and community resilience. She started serving in the position in 2025, after seventeen years of service with EDA.  

Ms. Millius began her career with EDA in 2008 as a Presidential Management Fellow working with EDA Headquarters in Washington, DC, where she held a diverse portfolio of responsibilities, from performance measurement to policy formulation.  During her time in DC, she was instrumental in the development of several of EDA’s interagency programs and initiatives, including the Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenges, the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership, and the Regional Innovation Strategies program (now Build to Scale).  She moved to Seattle in 2016 to support the agency’s economic development programs as an Area Director within EDA’s Seattle Regional Office.  Over the years, her work at EDA has been recognized by the Department of Commerce with 2 gold and 3 silver medals. 

Her previous experience includes positions with the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee for Agriculture, the City of Chicago Mayor’s Office, and as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Albania.   

A native of Los Angeles, CA, Ms. Millius holds a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Chicago, a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in English and European Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles, and has completed a certificate program in Political Science with the Institut d’Études Politiques in Bordeaux, France.