Julie Chávez Rodriguez (born 1979) is an American political rights activist and the director of the

White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs The White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs 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 t ...

. She grew up in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

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, Rodriguez served in the

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...

, initially working for the

United States Secretary of the Interior The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natural ...

and later in the White House Office of Public Engagement. She was appointed state director for Senator Kamala Harris in 2016. She later served on the Kamala Harris 2020 presidential campaign from 2017 to 2019. In 2020, Rodriguez was hired by the

Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign Former vice president Joe Biden began his presidential campaign on April 25, 2019 by releasing a video announcing his candidacy in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. The campaign concluded with him and his running mate Kamala H ...

as senior advisor for Latino outreach. Rodriguez was appointed to be the director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs by President Joe Biden, and took office on January 20, 2021. On June 15, 2022 ahead of the

2022 midterm elections The 2022 United States elections were held on November 8, 2022, with the exception of absentee balloting. During this U.S. midterm election, which occurred during the first term of incumbent president Joe Biden of the Democratic Party, all 4 ...

President Biden promoted her to be a senior advisor to the president, a senior staff position. She will continue to serve as director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

Early life and education

Rodriguez was born in Delano, California. She was raised in Tehachapi in a family of well-known labor activists affiliated with the

United Farm Workers of America The United Farm Workers of America, or more commonly just United Farm Workers (UFW), is a labor union for farmworkers in the United States. It originated from the merger of two workers' rights organizations, the Agricultural Workers Organizing ...

organization. She is the daughter of Linda Chávez Rodriguez and Arturo Rodriguez, and the granddaughter of American labor activist, Helen Fabela Chávez, and American labor leader, César Chávez. Her parents were full time volunteers for the UFWA. Rodriguez would often attend labor rallies with her parents and grandparents and assist them in UFWA community outreach activities. Rodriguez attended

Tehachapi High School Tehachapi High School is the single comprehensive high school serving students in grades 9–12 in the Tehachapi, California area. Tehachapi High School is part of the Tehachapi Unified School District, a K-12 school district. Tehachapi High Sch ...

, and later attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, where earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Latin American Studies. During her summer breaks, Rodriguez worked at the AFL–CIO. She also spent summers volunteering with the UFWA, organizing strawberry pickers in Watsonville, California.

Career

From 2001 to 2008, Rodriguez worked as a program director at the Cesar Chavez Foundation. She worked as a full-time volunteer for the 2008 presidential campaign of Barack Obama in Colorado. In 2009, Rodriguez was hired by the

, initially working as Director of Youth Employment and later as Deputy Press Secretary to former

Ken Salazar Kenneth Lee Salazar (born March 2, 1955) is an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat who is the United States ambassador to Mexico. He previously served as the 50th United States Secretary of the Interior in the administration of President Ba ...

. From 2011 to 2017, Rodriguez served at the White House Office of Public Engagement as deputy director of public engagement and later served as Special Assistant to President Obama. Her work as deputy director initially involved immigration and Latino outreach, and evolved over time into the management of the White House's outreach program to Latino, LGBT, veteran, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Muslim, youth, education and progressive communities. On December 11, 2016, Rodríguez was appointed by California Senator Kamala Harris to serve as her state director. In 2017, Rodriguez was hired by the Kamala Harris 2020 presidential campaign and served on the campaign until Harris withdrew her candidacy in late-2019. Rodriguez initially served as co-national political director and later took on the role of the campaign's traveling chief of staff. In 2020, Rodriquez was hired by the Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign as senior advisor to oversee Latino outreach. She is the highest-ranking Latina working for the campaign. Rodriguez was appointed to be the director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs by President Joe Biden, and took office on January 20, 2021.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Julie Chavez 1979 births Activists for Hispanic and Latino American civil rights AFL–CIO people American trade unionists of Mexican descent American women trade unionists American politicians of Mexican descent Biden administration personnel California Democrats Cesar Chavez Living people Obama administration personnel People from Kern County, California Trade unionists from California United Farm Workers people United States Department of the Interior officials University of California, Berkeley alumni

Early life and education

Career

See also

References

External links