Michael Alexander Strautmanis (born Michael Alexander Young, March 24, 1969) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

lawyer and political organizer who served as chief of staff to

Valerie Jarrett Valerie June Jarrett ( Bowman; born November 14, 1956) is an American businesswoman and former government official. She currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Obama Foundation. She previously served as the Senior Advisor to the Pre ...

in the

White House Office of Public Engagement The White House Office of Public Engagement 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 was called the White House Office of Public ...

during the

Presidency of Barack Obama 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 n ...

. He currently works as Executive Vice President for Public Engagement at the

Obama Foundation The Barack Obama Foundation is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization founded in 2014. It oversees the creation of the Barack Obama Presidential Center, runs the My Brother's Keeper Alliance (a program Barack Obama began while he was president), ...

Early life and education

Michael Alexander Strautmanis was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and lived briefly on the South Side with his mother. When his mother married a Latvian immigrant, Juris Strautmanis, they moved to the Uptown neighborhood located in

Chicago's North Side The city of Chicago is divided into 77 community areas for statistical and planning purposes. Census data and other statistics are tied to the areas, which serve as the basis for a variety of urban planning initiatives on both the local and reg ...

. He would later take the last-name of his step-father due to a fractured relationship with his biological father. He attended a prestigious local prep school, the Jesuit-run St. Ignatius College Prep, on a financial-aid program. His mother was a teacher at Jenner Elementary School, while his step-father was a guidance counselor. He graduated from the

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

in 1991 with a degree in advertising, although he initially started as a theater major. His interest in law arose from a summer job he had in college as a bicycle messenger, where he was inspired by the law firm buildings that he delivered packages to; one of these buildings was

Sidley Austin Sidley Austin LLP is an American multinational law firm with approximately 2,000 lawyers in 20 offices worldwide. The firm's headquarters is at One South Dearborn in Chicago's Loop. The firm specializes in a variety of areas in both litigation ...

law firm. The year before law school, he called the head of human resources of Sidley 13 times and was eventually given a job as a paralegal. As a paralegal, he worked under

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...

from 1991 to 1992. Strautmanis became close friends with Michelle Obama at Sidley, who was influential to his interest in law. He later attended the

University of Illinois College of Law The University of Illinois College of Law (Illinois Law or UIUC Law) is the law school of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a public university in Champaign, Illinois. It was established in 1897 and offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S. ...

and would spend late-night study sessions with then-Representative

Jesse Jackson Jr. Jesse Louis Jackson Jr. (born March 11, 1965) is an American politician. He served as the U.S. representative from from 1995 until his resignation in 2012. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the son of activist and former presidential candi ...

at IHOP. He earned his J.D. in 1994. After, he practiced complex litigation, labor and employment law, and intellectual property matters in Chicago at Michael Best & Friedrich.

Early political career

As a young lawyer with an interest in politics, Strautmanis met

Thomas Hynes Thomas C. Hynes (November 5, 1938 – May 4, 2019) was a physics teacher who served as Cook County Assessor, President of the Illinois Senate, and 19th Ward Democratic Committeeman. Hynes was also a candidate for Mayor of Chicago in 1987. He was ...

, an influential politician in Chicago, at a Christmas party, which lead to Strautmanis helping Hyne's son with

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

and

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...

's Illinois statewide campaign. Wanting to go to Washington, Strautmanis gave his resume to then U.S. Assistant Attorney General

Deval Patrick Deval Laurdine Patrick (born July 31, 1956) is an American politician, civil rights lawyer, author, and businessman who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. He was first elected in 2006, succeeding Mitt Romney, who ...

after Patrick gave a speech in Chicago; soon after, he was given a position in Washington to serve in the

Clinton Administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over Re ...

as the Special Assistant to the General Counsel at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), staying in the position from 1998 to 1999. Strautmanis later secured a position as legislative director and counsel for then U.S. Congressman

Rod Blagojevich Rod Blagojevich ( , born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nicknames "Blago" or "B-Rod", is an American former politician, political commentator, and convicted felon who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009, when ...

and aided in him winning the 2002 Illinois gubernatorial campaign. During this period, Strautmanis had temporarily left this position to volunteer for Barack Obama's U.S. House of Representatives 2000 campaign, although he would return once Obama lost. In 2002, Strautmanis left to work for the

American Association for Justice The American Association for Justice (AAJ), formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) is a nonprofit advocacy and lobbying organization for plaintiff's lawyers in the United States. Focused on opposing tort reform, the organiza ...

as a lobbyist for trial lawyers, a position he kept till 2005.

Obama Administration

He served as Chief Counsel and the Director of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs on Obama's

presidential transition team In the United States, a presidential transition is the process during which the president-elect of the United States prepares to take over the administration of the federal government of the United States from the incumbent President of the Un ...

. In December 2008, Obama announced in a press release that Strautmanis would serve as Chief of Staff to the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Engagement for

Post-political career

In March 2013, he announced his resignation from the White House staff in order to accept a post with the

Walt Disney Corporation The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

specializing in corporate citizenship. In November 2015, the

announced Strautmanis would become the Vice President of Civic Engagement. Strautmanis is on the Board of Directors for Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Works

In 2018, Strautmanis detailed his longstanding relationship with Michelle and Barack Obama and his experiences in the Obama White House in a chapter in ''West Wingers: Stories from the Dream Chasers, Change Makers, and Hope Creators Inside the Obama White House''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strautmanis, Michael 1969 births American lawyers Disney people Living people Obama administration personnel People associated with Sidley Austin People of the United States Agency for International Development Politicians from Chicago University of Illinois College of Law alumni