Luis Guillermo Fortuño Burset is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States, from 2009 to 2013.
Jerry Edwin Abramson is an American Democratic politician who was the 55th lieutenant governor of Kentucky. On November 6, 2014, Governor Steve Beshear announced that Abramson would step down from his position as lieutenant governor to accept the job of Director of Intergovernmental Affairs in the Obama White House. He was replaced by former State Auditor Crit Luallen.
The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) is a Washington, D.C.-based 527 organization founded in 1983, consisting of U.S. state and territorial governors affiliated with the Democratic Party. The mission of the organization is to provide party support to the election and re-election of Democratic gubernatorial candidates. The DGA's Republican counterpart is the Republican Governors Association. The DGA is not directly affiliated with the non-partisan National Governors Association. Meghan Meehan-Draper is currently the executive director of the DGA, while Tim Walz is the current chair.
The Draft Mark Warner for President committee was an effort to promote the candidacy of former Governor of Virginia Mark Warner. It was founded the day after the 2004 presidential election by Democratic Party activist Eddie Ratliff of Virginia. On October 23, 2007, the Draft Warner for President Committee received a letter from the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) in response to the committee's declaration of intent to cease operations, dated October 2, 2007, and was allowed to terminate its affairs and cease filing with the FEC. Warner had announced his intent to become a Senate candidate prior to the committee's letter to the FEC.
Karen Kornbluh served as U.S. Ambassador to the OECD under President Barack Obama and as a senior official at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Federal Communications Commission under President Bill Clinton. She is an expert on communications policy, international trade and issues affecting working families. Her profile in The New York Times focused on her efforts “Fighting for Economic Equality.” She is now Director of the Digital Innovation and Democracy Initiative at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a think tank dedicated to promoting transatlantic cooperation, where she is also a Senior Fellow. She also currently serves as the Chairperson of the board of the Open Technology Fund. She was previously Executive Vice President of External Affairs at Nielsen, Senior Fellow for Digital Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, and a presidentially-appointed member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. She was a senior adviser to Barack Obama from the beginning of his Senate tenure throughout his 2008 presidential campaign.
Valerie June Jarrett is an American businesswoman and former government official serving as the chief executive officer of the Obama Foundation since 2021. 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.
Anton J. Gunn, a healthcare consultant and former American politician, is the former head of the Office of External Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. In January 2014, he stepped down to return to the private sector as a consultant, health care entrepreneur and professional speaker. Gunn played a role in the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare”. In January 2015, Gunn assumed the position of Executive Director of Community Health Innovation and Hospital Chief Diversity Officer at the Medical University of South Carolina. Since 2018, he also serves as co-chair of the Health Care Voter campaign.
Katherine B. Johnson served as the personal secretary to United States President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2011.
Mitch Stewart is an American political campaign organizer.
Macon Phillips is a U.S. public servant who served as the Coordinator of the United States Department of State Bureau of International Information Programs from 2013 to 2017. He reported to Rick Stengel, the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Phillips is the former White House Director of New Media, in which capacity he had oversight responsibility for WhiteHouse.gov. Phillips' work on WhiteHouse.gov closely coordinated with internet operations at the Democratic National Committee, which has responsibility for administration of the BarackObama.com domain and website. At precisely 12:00 p.m.ET during the inauguration of Barack Obama, Phillips oversaw the conversion of Whitehouse.gov, the official website of the President of the United States. At 12:01 p.m., he posted the site's first blog entry, titled: Change has come to WhiteHouse.gov.
Johnnie Carson is a diplomat from the United States who has served as United States Ambassador to several African nations. In 2009 he was nominated to become U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs by President Barack Obama. He resigned in 2013 after four years in the role and following the resignation of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He is currently a Senior Advisor at Albright Stonebridge Group and the United States Institute of Peace.
The White House Office of Public Engagement (OPE) 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 combined oversight of OPE and the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs (IGA) under the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs (OPE-IGA). President Donald Trump restored the prior name of the Office of Public Liaison (OPL) and re-separated IGA. President Joe Biden changed the name back to OPE but kept IGA separate in his administration.
On April 4, 2011, Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, announced his candidacy for re-election as president. On September 5, 2012, he again became the nominee of the Democratic Party for the 2012 presidential election. Along with his running mate, Vice President Joe Biden, Obama was opposed in the general election by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, along with various minor candidates from other parties. The election took place on Tuesday, November 6, 2012.
Evan Maureen Ryan is an American public servant serving as White House cabinet secretary in the administration of Joe Biden. She previously served as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) in the Obama administration (2013–2017) and was assistant for intergovernmental affairs and public liaison for then-Vice President Joe Biden.
Daniel R. Russel is an American diplomat who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 2013 to 2017. Prior to his appointment as Assistant Secretary, Russel was Special Assistant to the President and National Security Staff Senior Director for Asian Affairs. He was a major figure in the Obama administration's "pivot towards Asia" strategy.
Buffy Jo Christina Wicks is an American politician who serves in the California State Assembly. A Democrat, she represents the 14th Assembly District, which includes the cities of Berkeley, Piedmont, Richmond, San Pablo, and El Cerrito in the East Bay.
The White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs (IGA) is a unit of the White House Office, within the Executive Office of the President. It serves as the primary liaison between the White House and state, county (or county-equivalent), local, and tribal governments. The office focuses on building new and maintaining current relationships with governors, tribal leaders, mayors, state legislators, and county executives. The Office of Intergovernmental Affairs works with federal agencies and departments to ensure appropriate coordination between state, local, and tribal governments and the federal government. The Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House Office for the Biden administration was Julie Chavez Rodriguez until she resigned on May 16, 2023 to become Biden's Campaign Manager for his 2024 reelection bid. The position was vacant for 4 weeks till former Obama adviser Tom Perez stepped into be the new Director on June 12, 2023.
Elizabeth Marie Allen is an American political advisor who serves as under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs in the Biden administration. She previously served as assistant secretary of state for global public affairs and as White House deputy communications director during the Obama administration.
Julie Chávez Rodriguez is an American political rights activist and campaign manager for the Joe Biden 2024 presidential campaign. She grew up in California in a well-known family of American labor and civil rights activists, the granddaughter of American labor leader, César Chávez and American labor activist Helen Fabela Chávez. From 2008 to 2016, Chávez Rodriguez served in the Obama administration, initially working for the United States Secretary of the Interior and later in the White House Office of Public Engagement.
