Governor Christine Gregoire appointed Cindy Zehnder to be her new chief of staff on September 20. Both Gregoire and Zehnder are members of the Visiting Committee for the Evans School of Public Affairs.
Zehnder, who is President and CEO of TVW, Washington's equivalent of C-Span, will replace outgoing chief of staff Tom Fitzsimmons on October 1.
"There is only one person who could have convinced me to leave TVW, and that is the governor," Zehnder said in a press release issued by Gregoire's office.
Zehnder has served as chief clerk for the Washington State House of Representatives, deputy commissioner of the Washington Employment Security Department, and numerous positions with the Teamsters Union.
Gregoire referred to Zehnder as a long-time friend in the press release from her office, and said, "Cindy's breadth of experience in the Executive Branch, the Legislature, labor, business, and media will serve Washingtonians well."
Zehnder is a two-time graduate of the University of Washington, holding a bachelor's degree in anthropology and a master's degree in educational psychology. Aside from serving on the Visiting Committee for the Evans School of Public Affairs, Zehnder previously served as a member, vice president, and president of the University of Washington (UW) Board of Regents and on the advisory boards of UW-Tacoma and the William D. Ruckelshaus Center.
Read the media coverage of Zehnder's appointment in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and The Seattle Times.