Two more Indian-Americans named to White House positions in a Biden Administration

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President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris announced additional members of the White House senior staff, among them two Indian-Americans.

Biden had promised early on to deliver a diverse administration and so far has already announced a slew of Indian-Americans to various positions in the White House and in Cabinet positions, and as senior officials in various departments.

His latest announcement Dec. 22, 2020, names former Obama Administration Liaison to the Pentagon on LGBTQ issues, Gautam Raghavan as deputy director of the Office of Presidential Personnel; and Vinay Reddy as director of speechwriting.

“We are building a White House staff to reflect the diversity of America in every sense. These individuals have a breadth of experience, and will bring a commitment to serving the American people each and every day. They will advance the bold agenda of President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris, creating a more just, equitable, and united nation,” incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain is quoted saying in the press release.

Raghavan currently serves as deputy head of presidential appointments on the Biden-Harris Transition.

Immediately prior to joining the transition, Raghavan served as Chief of Staff to U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Previously, Raghavan served as an Advisor to the Biden Foundation, and as Vice President of Policy for the Gill Foundation, one of the oldest and largest private foundations dedicated to the cause of LGBTQ equality.

During the Obama-Biden Administration, Raghavan served in the White House as the liaison to the LGBTQ community as well as the Asian American & Pacific Islander community, and in the White House Liaison Office for the U.S. Department of Defense and as Outreach Lead for the Pentagon’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Working Group.

A first-generation immigrant, Raghavan was born in India, raised in Seattle, and graduated from Stanford University. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his husband and their daughter.

Reddy serves as a speechwriter on the Biden-Harris Transition and served as Senior Advisor and Speechwriter for the Biden-Harris Campaign.

He previously served as chief speechwriter to Vice President Biden in the second term of the Obama-Biden White House, after which, he worked as Vice President of Strategic Communications at the National Basketball Association.

During the Obama-Biden Administration, he also served as senior speechwriter at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services, deputy speechwriter for the Obama-Biden re-election campaign, and speechwriter for his home state Democratic Senator, Sherrod Brown of Ohio.

Reddy grew up in Dayton, Ohio, the middle of three sons in an immigrant family and is a product of Ohio public schools from kindergarten to Miami University to The Ohio State University College of Law. He currently lives in New York with his wife and their two daughters.