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US President-elect Joe Biden on Friday appointed an Indian-American, Mala Adiga, the policy director of his wife Jill Biden, who will be the first lady.
Adiga has served as a senior advisor to Jill and a senior policy advisor on the Biden-Kamala Harris campaign. Previously, Adiga was director for Higher Education and Military Families at the Biden Foundation.
During former president Barack Obama’s administration, Adiga served as the deputy assistant secretary of state for Academic Programs at the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, in the Secretary of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues as chief of staff and senior advisor to the Ambassador-at-Large, besides as director for human rights on the National Security Staff.
A native of Illinois, Adiga is a graduate of Grinnell College, the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and the University of Chicago Law School.
A lawyer by training, Adiga had been a clerk for a federal and had worked for a Chicago law firm before joining the campaign of former president Obama in 2008.
She started in the Obama administration as a counsel to the associate attorney general.
Biden made the announcement of her appointment as he announced the names of four new members of his White House senior staff.
Cathy Russell, Vice-Chair of the Biden-Harris campaign, has been named as the director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel.
Louisa Terrell, who currently oversees legislative affairs for the Biden-Harris transition team, will serve as the director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs in Biden administration.
Carlos Elizondo, a Special Assistant to the President and Social Secretary to Vice-President and Dr Jill Biden for all eight years of the Obama-Biden administration, was appointed as the White House Social Secretary.
In a statement, Joe Biden lauded the “dedication” of additional members of his team and said the new addition will serve the American people and help build back better, creating a more just, equitable, and united nation.
“I’m proud to name additional members of our team who will help deliver the change America needs in these difficult times. Their dedication to overcoming the challenges facing our country today are rooted in their diverse backgrounds and experiences. They will serve the American people and help build back better, creating a more just, equitable, and united nation,” said President-elect Biden.
