Help President Obama lead the nation.

The Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute is leading a community-wide effort to identify strong LGBT candidates to serve in the Obama administration.   

The Presidential Appointments Project serves as the talent bank for openly LGBT professionals seeking appointed positions in the next presidential administration.  If you’ve ever considered working for the federal government, now is the time to start thinking about whether you have what it takes to work for the president to help change our country.   

While Barack Obama lays out a broad agenda to move the country forward, his staff is actually undertaking the hard work of implementation.  Appointed officials have the power to set or influence the policies of the many federal departments and administrative agencies that make up the executive branch of government.  

The Project will ensure that qualified, committed and talented members of the LGBT community have a fair shot at being appointed to important federal positions.

For more answers to common questions about the Presidential Appointments Project, read our FAQ. 

As of now, the following LGBT leaders have secured spots in the Obama administration:

• Mark Agrast- Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legislative Affairs
• Judy Applebaum- Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legislative Affairs
• Cynthia Attwood- Member, Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
• Vic Basile- Senior Counselor to the Director, Office of Personnel Management
• Anthony Bernal- Scheduler, Office of Dr. Jill Biden
• Jeremy Bernard- Director of White House and Congressional Affairs, National Endowment for the Humanities
• John Berry- Director, Office of Personnel Management
• Jeremy Bishop- Special Assistant, Department of Public Engagement at the Department of Labor
• Brian Bond- Deputy Director, White House Office of Public Engagement
• Raphael Bostic- Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, Housing and Urban Development
• Ebs Burnough- Deputy Social Secretary, Office of the First Lady
• Michael Camunez- Special Assistant to the President, Office of Presidential Personnel
• Jamison Citron- Confidential Assistant, Office of White House Liaison, Department of Health and Human Services
• Brook Colangelo- Chief Information Officer, White House Office of Administration
• Jeffrey Crowley- Director, Office of National AIDS Policy
• Fred Davie- Member, President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
• Justin DeJong- Deputy Press Secretary, Department of Agriculture
• Marisa Demeo- Associate Judge, DC Superior Court
• Jenny Durkan- U.S. Attorney, Western District of Washington
• John Easton- Director, Institute of Education Sciences
• Eric Fanning- Deputy Under Secretary of the Navy
• Chai Feldblum- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• Carl Fillicheo- Senior Advisor, Communications and Public Affairs, Department of Labor
• Daniel Gordon- Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, OMB
• Kathy Greenlee- Assistant Secretary, Administration on Aging, Department of Health and Human Services
• David Hansell- Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, Administration for Children and Families
• Emily Hewitt- Chief Justice, U.S. Court of Federal Claims
• Fred Hochberg- Chairman, U.S. Export-Import Bank
• David Huebner- U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand
• Glenda Humiston- State Director for Rural Development in California
• Shin Inouye- Director, Specialty Media
• John Isa- Deputy Executive Director, Federal Office of Compliance
• Karine Jean-Pierre- Regional Director, Office of Political Affairs
• Kevin Jennings- Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools
• Kristina Johnson- Under Secretary, Department of Energy
• Jenn Jones- Special Assistant, Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Elaine Kaplan- General Counsel, Office of Personnel Management
• Brad Kiley- Director, White House Office of Management and Administration
• Harry Knox- Member, President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
• Kei Koizumi- Assistant Director for Federal Research and Development, Office of Science and Technology Policy
• Andy Lee- Chief of Staff, Office of Innovation and Improvement at the Department of Education
• Jeffrey Lerner- Regional Director, Office of Political Affairs
• Zach Liscow- Staff Economist, Council of Economic Advisers
• Thomas Lopach- Senior Vice President, Congressional Affairs, U.S. Export-Import Bank
• Sharon Lubinski- U.S. Marshal
• John Marble- Public Affairs Specialist, Office of Personnel Management
• Mercedes Marquez- Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development, Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Kathy Martinez- Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy, Department of Labor
• Mary Beth Maxwell- Senior Advisor, Department of Labor
• Philip McNamara- Executive Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• David Medina- Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of the First Lady
• David Mills- Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement, Department of Commerce
• Alison Nathan- Associate Counsel to the President, White House Counsels Office
• Jeffrey Neal- Chief Human Capital Officer, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• Ven Neralla- Director of Priority Placement, Presidential Personnel
• Dave Noble- White House Liaison, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• Matt Nosanchuk- Senior Counselor to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Department of Justice
• Dylan Orr- Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy
• Joseph Palacios- Board of Visitors for WHINSEC
• Peter Pappas- Administrator for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, Department of Justice
• Raul Perea-Henze- Assistant Secretary of Policy and Planning, Department of Veterans Affairs
• Mark Perriello- Director of Priority Placement, Presidential Personnel
• Peter Roehrig- Special Assistant, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
• Constance L. Rogers- Deputy Solicitor for Energy and Mineral Resources at Interior
• Ellie Sue Schafer- Director, White House Visitors Office
• Amanda Simpson- Senior Technical Advisor to the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security
• Richard Sorian- Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, HHS
• Campbell Spencer- Regional Director, Office of Political Affairs
• Everette Stubbs- Deputy Director, White House Visitors Center
• Nancy Sutley- Chair, White House Council on Environmental Quality
• Moe Vela- Director of Operations, Office of the Vice President
• Alex Wagner- Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs
• Douglas B. Wilson- Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, Department of Defense
• William Woolston- Staff Economist, Council of Economic Advisers 

How the Project Works: 

Step 1: Decide if you have what it takes.

These are just some of the factors you should consider before applying to the Presidential Appointments Project:

• The hours are long and the pace intense.
• There is much public/press scrutiny.
• Most applicants under serious consideration for an appointment will go through a full FBI background check in which their employment, professional, personal, travel, medical, financial, legal, military and educational histories will be reviewed and scrutinized.
• The financial holdings and sources of income for most applicants under serious consideration must be disclosed for review for possible conflicts of interest.
• Most appointees’ dealings with the Federal government during and for a period of time after their service will be significantly restricted to prevent possible conflicts of interest.
• Before starting the application process, please have all of your education information, employment information, references, and desired appointment position available.  In addition, please ensure that enough time is set aside to complete the application in one setting.  Not doing so will result in multiple application submissions that will delay the processing of your application.  Estimated time needed to complete application: 30 minutes.
  
• Please keep in mind that space on the application is limited.  There is only space allotted to provide the three most recent places and degrees of education, recent places of employment, and references.  Please DO NOT complete an additional application in order to include all of this information.  There will be ample opportunity to provide in-depth information in your resume.
  
  

Step 2: Complete the application ….and email your resume to presidential@glli.org.

Step 3: The Institute will present qualified applications to the president's transition team.

Disclaimer: GLLI has no authority or official role whatsoever with respect to hiring any personnel in the federal government. Your participation in this program does not mean that GLLI will recommend you for any position or that you will in any way be advantaged in the appointment or nomination process for any such position.