Deesha Dyer (born 1978) is an American public servant who served as the

White House Social Secretary The White House social secretary is responsible for the planning, coordination and execution of official social events at the White House, the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Function The social s ...

for

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

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 ...

from 2015 to 2017. Dyer also served as Deputy to the previous Social Secretary, Jeremy Bernard. She is currently the CEO of Hook & Fasten, a social-impact consulting company. She is a 2019 Resident Fellow for the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics.

Early life

Dyer grew up in

Hershey, Pennsylvania Hershey is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is home to The Hershey Company, which was founded by candy magnate Milton S. Hershey. The community is lo ...

and attended the Milton Hershey School, a boarding school founded by

The Hershey Company The Hershey Company, commonly known as Hershey's, is an American multinational company and one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world. It also manufactures baked products, such as cookies and cakes, and sells beverages like milksh ...

. She attended the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...

, but later dropped out and enrolled in

Community College of Philadelphia The Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) is a public community college with campuses throughout Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The college was founded in 1965 and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. It offers over ...

where she earned an associate degree in women's studies. Before working at the White House she worked as the executive assistant at the

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers mostly in the Mid-Atlantic states. History The company was founded by Sylvan M. Cohen in 1960 as one of the first equi ...

and a freelance writer at the

Philadelphia Citypaper Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

. She also started an

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

-awareness program, distributing fliers and condoms at local hip-hop clubs.

White House career

At age 31, her White House career began as an intern in the Office of Scheduling and Advance in Fall 2009. Following her internship, Dyer became associate director for scheduling correspondence and then was named hotel program director. In this role, she travelled with the president and first lady and planned lodging accommodations. She became deputy social secretary and was later promoted to special assistant to the president and social secretary, making her the Obama administration's fourth social secretary and the second of

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

descent. In 2018, she contributed a chapter to ''West Wingers: Stories from the Dream Chasers, Change Makers, and Hope Creators Inside the Obama White House'' recounting her experiences in the Obama White House. In 2019, Dyer created the Black Girl 44 Scholarship, which provides financial assistance to Black college women who are interning in politics or public service. The scholarship is housed through Impact of a Vote. The initiative, founded by Dyer, offers free workshops, newsletters, and job postings to help Black college students explore careers in politics and public service. She founded Hook & Fasten, a social social-impact consulting company, and serves as the CEO.

References

1978 births Living people Community College of Philadelphia alumni Milton Hershey School alumni Obama administration personnel Politicians from Philadelphia {{US-gov-bio-stub