Amanda Fisher

Amanda Fisher joined Governor Ferguson’s team as Director of International Relations and Protocol in September of 2025.  Previously, she served for 21 years of active duty service in the United States Coast Guard, completing her service at the rank of Commander, as the Chief of External Affairs for the Coast Guard Pacific Northwest District in Seattle, Washington.  In her position she served as the senior point of engagement with congressional, state, and local governmental officials, and supervised International and Tribal Affairs engagement, as well as a team of Public Affairs Specialists supporting Coast Guard missions within the Pacific Northwest, including the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. 

Previously, Amanda served as a liaison to the State Department’s Office of Marine Conservation and to NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement.  She also served as a detailee to Senator Bill Nelson on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation’s Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and the Coast Guard, where she assisted fisheries, climate change, oceans science and Coast Guard related legislative and policy development.

Amanda served aboard four Coast Guard cutters, including as Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Steelhead, and has served as Commanding Officer of the Southeast Regional Fisheries Training Center.  A certified federal maritime law enforcement officer, she conducted fisheries compliance and counter narcotics operations in the Eastern Pacific, Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and the Middle East.  She graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science in Marine and Environmental Science and holds a Master of Arts in Marine Affairs and Public Policy from the University of Washington’s School of Marine Affairs.  Additionally, she holds certificates in International Development from the University of Washington’s Jackson School of International Studies and Joint Military Operations from the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, and is a graduate of the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Foreign Policy Fellowship program. She is also a graduate of the Women’s Media Center’s Progressive Women’s Voices Media and Leadership training program in Washington, D.C.

Amanda is a designated Coast Guard Cutterman and her military awards include the Coast Guard Meritorious Service Medal, Coast Guard Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Coast Guard Achievement Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, and other awards and decorations.  She lives with her spouse in Seattle and their two cats, Mitscher and Lola.  In her free time she enjoy hiking, sailing, kayaking, scuba diving, flying and flight simulation, theater and film, and board games.