Brad L. Jenkins | |
|---|---|
 Jenkins speaks at the 2017 Citizen University National Conference | |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Virginia |
| Occupation(s) | Executive producer, Funny or Die DC |
Brad L. Jenkins is an American producer. He is the managing director and executive producer of Funny or Die DC. Jenkins is the former associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. [1] [2]
A native of Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, Jenkins attended Steinert High School, where he took an advanced course about government that included presentations from local elected officials and a three-day trip to Washington that allowed him to gain a greater understanding of how government works and was the germ of his interest in politics years later. [3]
After graduating from the University of Virginia, Jenkins worked as an investment professional for six years in New York and San Francisco, where he worked for Farallon Capital. [1] [4] After moving to California, Jenkins and his wife joined a volunteer group for Barack Obama's Presidential Campaign in 2007 before the Democratic primaries. [3] He later moved to Chicago and became the national deputy director of special projects for the Obama Campaign. [4] [3]
Jenkins served as the founding vice president of Business Forward, an organization that brings entrepreneurs into the policy-making process, before signing on at the White House as associate director for the Office of Public Engagement under Valerie Jarrett. [5] At the White House, Jenkins served as a liaison to the creative community working with executives, celebrities, artists and advocacy leaders. [6] In his role, he also served as a liaison for the comedy video website Funny or Die and was involved in an episode of Between Two Ferns , in which Zach Galifianakis interviews President Obama about the Affordable Care Act. [7] [1] Several weeks after the interview aired, Jenkins and Jarrett briefed the President in the Oval Office about its widespread critical acclaim and how it was the show's "most successful video." [8] Jenkins recounts this story in depth in West Wingers: Stories from the Dream Chasers, Change Makers, and Hope Creators Inside the Obama White House, a collection of personal stories by Obama Administration staffers. [9]
In 2015, it was announced that Jenkins would be named managing director and executive producer of Funny or Die's new Washington, D.C. branch, where he produces politically themed content and provides consulting services. [6] In 2020, it was announced that he and Meena Harris would launch a production studio titled "Phenomenal Productions". [10]
Jenkins runs Enfranchisement Productions [11] whose first hour-long special, TAAF Heritage Heroes, premiered on Hulu.[ when? ]
Zachary Knight Galifianakis is an American actor and comedian. He appeared in Comedy Central Presents special and presented his show Late World with Zach on VH1. Since 2008 he has hosted the Funny or Die talk show Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis. He starred in the FX series Baskets and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2017.
Steinert High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as one of three secondary high schools that are part of the Hamilton Township School District, located in Hamilton Township in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States; the other high schools in the district are Nottingham High School and Hamilton High School West. The school mascot is the Spartan.
Counselor to the President is a title used by high-ranking political advisors to the president of the United States and senior members of the White House Office.
B. J. Porter is an actor, writer and comedian. Porter began his career writing and performing on the HBO sketch comedy program, Mr. Show. Porter, along with the rest of the Mr. Show writing staff, was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1999. Porter won an Emmy in 2014 and 2015 for the Funny or Die series Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis, which he co-created. Between Two Ferns was also nominated for an Emmy in 2013.
Funny or Die is a comedy video website and film/television production company owned by Henry R. Muñoz III that was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Kvamme, and Chris Henchy in 2007. The website contained exclusive material from a regular staff of in-house writers, producers and directors, and occasionally from a number of famous contributors including Judd Apatow, James Franco and Norm Macdonald. The associated production company continues to make TV shows including truTV's Billy on the Street, Comedy Central's @midnight and Zach Galifianakis' web series Between Two Ferns.
White House Office is an entity within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The White House Office is headed by the White House chief of staff, who is also the head of the Executive Office of the President. The staff work for and report directly to the president, including West Wing staff and the president's senior advisers. Almost all of the White House Office staff are political appointees of the president, do not require Senate confirmation and can be dismissed at the discretion of the president. Aside from Cabinet secretaries and Supreme Court justices, whose nominations require the approval of the Senate, the President of the United States has the authority to appoint people to high-level positions within the federal government unilaterally.
Valerie June Jarrett is an American businesswoman and former government official. She currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Obama Foundation. She previously served as the senior advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama and assistant to the president for public engagement and intergovernmental affairs from 2009 to 2017. Before that, she served as a co-chair of the Obama–Biden Transition Project.
Michael Alexander Strautmanis is an American lawyer and political organizer who served as chief of staff to Valerie Jarrett in the White House Office of Public Engagement during the Presidency of Barack Obama. He currently works as Executive Vice President for Public Engagement at the Obama Foundation.
Melody C. Barnes is an American lawyer and political advisor. Formerly an aide and chief counsel to Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Barnes later worked at the Center for American Progress, a think tank, before joining Senator Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. After Obama took office as president, Barnes was appointed director of the Domestic Policy Council, serving in that post from January 2009 to January 2012. After leaving the White House, Barnes assumed roles at the Aspen Institute and New York University. Since 2016, she has been at the University of Virginia, where she teaches law and is the Co-Director of the UVA Democracy Initiative.
The White House staff position of liaison to the American Jewish community is a role charged with serving as a presidential administration's voice to the community and gathering the community's consensus viewpoint on issues affecting it for the benefit of White House policymakers. It has existed at least as early as the Carter Administration.
Christina M. Tchen is an American lawyer and a former official in the President Barack Obama Administration. She was CEO of Time's Up from 2019 to 2021, when she resigned following allegations that she provided legal aid to former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo when sexual harassment allegations were made public. Her work centers on issues related to gender inequity, sexual harassment, and lack of diversity in the workplace.
The White House Office of Urban Affairs is an office within the White House Office, part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States.
The White House Office of Public Engagement is a unit of the White House Office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. Under the administration of President Barack Obama, it was called the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs. President Donald Trump restored the prior name of the White House Office of Public Liaison and separated the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. President Joe Biden changed the name to the White House Office of Public Engagement but retained Trump's separate Intergovernmental Affairs Office in his administration.
The White House Council on Women and Girls was an advisory council within the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs of the Executive Office of the President of the United States. It was established by Executive Order 13506 on March 11, 2009, with a broad mandate to advise the president on issues relating to the welfare of women and girls in order to ensure gender equality. It also ensured that other White House agencies acted in a manner to allow all things to be possible for all people. The Council was chaired by Valerie Jarrett and included the heads of every federal agency and major White House office.
Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis is an American talk show hosted by comedian Zach Galifianakis which features celebrity guests. Episodes last several minutes, in which the interviewer (Galifianakis) and guests trade barbs and insults. In addition to the online series, there is a Comedy Central television special, and a Netflix original movie Between Two Ferns: The Movie. The series' theme music is Dave Blume's arrangement of Bernard Herrmann's theme from Taxi Driver, which is on the original Taxi Driver soundtrack album but was not included in the film.
LGBT liaison officers or Gay and Lesbian Liaison Officers (GLLOs) are individuals who work within organisations as a point of contact. They build rapport and trust between an organisation and the communities they serve. LGBT liaison officers ensure that the LGBT community are receiving equitable and culturally competent service provision. LGBT liaison officers also raise issues within organisations that may impact LGBT communities and play a significant advocacy role when developing policies, programs, and services.
Monique Dorsainvil was the Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor for the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs. She previously served as LGBT Liaison to the White House.
David Litt is an American political speechwriter and author of the comedic memoir Thanks, Obama: My Hopey Changey White House Years. He is currently the head writer/producer for Funny or Die's office in Washington, D.C.
Brian Bond is an American LGBT rights activist who was the first openly gay deputy director in the White House Office of Public Engagement. He is currently the executive director of PFLAG.
MeenakshiAshley Harris is an American lawyer, children's book author, producer, and founder of the Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign, which creates statement fashion to support charity. In June 2020, Harris released her first book from HarperCollins, entitled Kamala and Maya's Big Idea, which is based on the story of her mother, Maya Harris, and aunt, Kamala Harris, the 49th Vice President of the United States.