On Saturday, the Obama transition team announced that Valerie Jarrett will serve as Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison, Phil Schiliro will be Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs, and Ron Klain will come on as the Chief of Staff to the Vice President.
Additionally, on Sunday, the team announced that Pete Rouse will serve as Senior Advisor, and both Mona Sutphen and Jim Messina will serve as Deputy Chief of Staff.
“These individuals will be essential members of our team as we work to bring Republicans and Democrats together to strengthen our struggling economy and make Washington work for all Americans. I have the utmost confidence that their broad and diverse experience will serve my administration and the American people well in the challenging months,” said President-elect Barack Obama in his announcement.
Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison
Ms. Jarrett currently serves as a co-chair of the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team and as a Director of USG Corporation, Inc., Navigant Consulting, Inc. and RREEF America II. From 1995-2003, Ms. Jarrett also served as Chairman of the Chicago Transit Board. Ms. Jarrett served as Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Stock Exchange, Inc, from April 2004 through April 2007. She also served as a Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago from January 2006 through April 2007.
Ms. Jarrett served as Finance Chair for the 2004 U.S. Senatorial Campaign for Barack Obama, the first Treasurer of the Senator’s PAC, the Hopefund, and served as a Senior Advisor to the Obama for America Presidential Campaign.
Phil Schiliro, Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs
Philip M. Schiliro is currently the Director of Congressional Relations for the transition team of President-Elect Barack Obama. Schiliro was a senior advisor to Senator Obama’s presidential campaign. He has worked in the United States Congress for more than 25 years. Schiliro served as the Chief of Staff to Representative Henry Waxman and the House Oversight Committee in the House, and the Policy Director for Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle and Staff Director of the Senate Democratic Leadership Committees in the Senate.
Ron Klain, Chief of Staff to the Vice President
Ronald A. Klain has served in all three branches of the federal government. Mr. Klain previously worked for Senator Biden as Chief Counsel of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Mr. Klain later served as Staff Director for the Senate Democratic Leadership Committees under Democratic Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD). In the executive branch, Mr. Klain served as Chief of Staff to Vice President Al Gore for four years; he also served as Chief of Staff to Attorney General Janet Reno, and Associate Counsel to President Clinton in charge of judicial selection.
Pete Rouse, Senior Advisor
Peter M. Rouse, Chief of Staff to Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), has served as chief of staff to members of the United States Congress for more than thirty years. Before joining Senator Obama in December 2004, he was chief of staff to former Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) for nineteen years. He also served a s chief of staff to Rep. Dick Durbin (1984/85) and Lt. Governor Terry Miller of Alaska (1979-83).
Mona Sutphen, Deputy Chief of Staff
Mona Sutphen is a member of the Transition team staff, and has been Managing Director of Stonebridge International LLC, an international strategic consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. that advises Fortune 500 and major multinational corporations on business opportunities and challenges worldwide. From 1991-2000, she was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, and among other assignments, served in the White House at the National Security Council (1998-2000). She also served at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, the Office of the High Representative following the Bosnian War, in the State Department human rights bureau, and at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok.
Jim Messina, Deputy Chief of Staff
Jim Messina currently Director of Personnel for the transition team of President-Elect Barak Obama. Messina served as national Chief of Staff for Sen. Obama’s presidential campaign. Prior, Jim served as chief of staff for U.S. Senators Max Baucus (D-Montana), Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and U.S. Rep Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY). Jim has run and consulted on political campaigns across the country from Alaska to New York.
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