Johanna Maska is an American communication professional. She was a longstanding aide to American President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. She is CEO of the consulting firm, Global Situation Room.

Life

Maska grew up in

Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...

. She went to the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

, which she credited at a commencement address for her optimism. She worked for

Kathleen Sebelius Kathleen Sebelius (; née Gilligan, born May 15, 1948) is an American businesswoman and politician who served as the 21st United States secretary of Health and Human Services from 2009 until 2014. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sebeli ...

. Beginning in June 2007

Iowa caucuses The Iowa caucuses are biennial electoral events for members of the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. state of Iowa. Unlike primary elections in most other U.S. states, where registered voters go to polling places to cast ballots, ...

, Maska worked for the Obama campaign. She worked as Director of Press Advance for President Obama in the White House. In her role as director of press advance, Maska led the advance work, and messaging for the White House. She organized multi-national summits located in the United States. In 2015, she left the White House moving from DC to LA, recruited by

Austin Beutner Austin Michael Beutner (born April 8, 1960) is an American businessman who served as Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent from May 1, 2018 to June 30, 2021. He previously served as the first deputy mayor of Los Angeles from 2010 th ...

to join the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' senior leadership team. In 2015, Maska resigned from The Times after

Tribune Publishing Tribune Publishing Company (briefly Tronc, Inc.) is an American newspaper print and online media publishing company. The company, which was acquired by Alden Global Capital in May 2021, has a portfolio that includes the ''Chicago Tribune'', the ...

fired Austin Beutner. She taught communications at

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. She was senior vice president of communication and marketing for Karmic Labs. She is a co-host of the

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

, Pod is a Woman. Maska is the CEO of the Global Situation Room, a public affairs practice that focuses on crisis communications, reputation management, thought leadership and global markets. Maska has spoken about families balancing it all, as she had her son while working at the White House. She organized the President's Address to the Nation from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

seven weeks after she gave birth to her son. She continued to travel for work with a young son, and continued working at the White House until her son was 3.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maska, Johanna Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign Obama administration personnel Los Angeles Times people University of Kansas alumni People from Galesburg, Illinois