Julie Rodriguez - Obama Presidency Oral History

Julie Chávez Rodriguez is an American political advisor, community organizer, and nonprofit executive. Chávez Rodriguez, who is the granddaughter of the labor activists and leaders Helen Fabela Chávez and César Chávez, worked from 2001 to 2008 at the César Chávez foundation. She worked for the Obama 2008 presidential campaign in Colorado, and in 2009 joined the Obama administration, in which she would go on to hold a variety of positions over the course of both terms. From 2009 to 2011 she served as Director of Youth Employment and Deputy Press Secretary in the Department of the Interior, and from 2011 to 2017, she served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Deputy Director of Public Engagement in the White House Office of Public Engagement (OPE). After leaving the Obama administration, Chávez Rodriguez worked as State Director for Senator Kamala Harris of California, and was National Political Director and Traveling Chief of Staff for Harris' 2020 presidential campaign. After Harris withdrew from the race, Chávez Rodriguez became Deputy Campaign Manager on the Biden-Harris presidential campaign. At the time of the interview, Chávez Rodriguez was serving in the Biden-Harris administration as Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.