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Gautam Raghavan

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Gautam Raghavan
Director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office
In office
January 31, 2022 – January 20, 2025
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byCatherine Russell
Succeeded bySergio Gor
Personal details
Born
India
Political partyDemocratic
EducationStanford University (BA)
George Washington University

Gautam Raghavan is a political advisor who was the director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office.[1] Raghavan previously served as the associate director of the Office of Public Liaison in the Obama administration.

Early life and education

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Raghavan was born in India and raised in Seattle, Washington.[2] He attended Stanford University,[2] where he was a member of the Stanford Harmonics.[3]

Career

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Raghavan was the associate director of the Office of Public Liaison under President Obama, acting as a liaison to both the LGBT and Asian American and Pacific Islander communities from 2011 to 2017.[4]

He has also worked for the Progressive Majority, the 2008 Obama campaign, the Democratic National Committee,[5] the Gill Foundation,[6] and the U.S. Department of Defense as the outreach lead for its "Don't Ask, Don’t Tell" Working Group.[5]

Outside of government, Raghavan has worked as a consultant for progressive organizations including the Biden Foundation[4] and the Indian American Impact Project, an initiative that supports Indian Americans in politics which he founded in 2016.[7][8] Raghavan was the editor of West Wingers: Stories from the Dream Chasers, Change Makers, and Hope Creators Inside the Obama White House, which includes personal accounts by eighteen Obama Administration staffers.[9]

From December 2018 to July 2020, Raghavan was the chief of staff for Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal.[10] In June 2020, Biden selected Raghavan to serve on his presidential transition team.[11]

Personal life

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Raghavan is openly gay. He lives with his husband and daughter in Washington D.C.[12] He is of Tamil descent.[13]

References

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  1. ^ "Biden Makes More Senior Hires, Including Deputy Chief of Staff". Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  2. ^ a b "Indian American Gautam Raghavan Elevated To Key White House Post". NDTV. Press Trust of India. 2021-12-11. Archived from the original on 2022-08-16. Retrieved 2025-08-27.
  3. ^ "Members". Stanford Harmonics. Retrieved 2025-08-27.
  4. ^ a b "The Biden Foundation Brings on Two Obama White House Experts - Biden FoundationBiden Foundation - A new stage of public service". Biden Foundation. 2017-04-05. Archived from the original on 2018-07-08. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  5. ^ a b "Gautam Raghavan". White House. 2011-10-24. Retrieved 2025-08-27.
  6. ^ "First openly gay Indian American official in the White House Gautam Raghavan resigns, joins Gill Foundation". The American Bazaar. 2014-09-11. Retrieved 2025-08-27.
  7. ^ "Impact's History". Indian American Impact. Retrieved 2025-08-27.
  8. ^ Duttagupta, Ishani (2025-02-22). "Thanks to early trailblazers for the large number of Indian Americans in public life and politics, says former White House HR boss Gautam Raghavan". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2025-08-27.
  9. ^ "West Wingers: Diverse Voices within the Obama Administration". Stanford Law School. 2019-11-29. Retrieved 2025-08-27.
  10. ^ "Jayapal Announces Gautam Raghavan As Chief of Staff". Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal. 2018-12-03. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  11. ^ Reporter, India-West Staff. "Biden Names Indian American Gautam Raghavan to Transition Team". India West. Archived from the original on 2020-08-26. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  12. ^ Ring, Trudy (2021-12-10). "Gay Indian-American to Become Top LGBTQ+ White House Staffer". The Advocate. Retrieved 2025-08-27.
  13. ^ "Raghavan to be deputy director of the Office of Presidential Personnel". The Indian EYE. 2020-12-24. Retrieved 2025-07-08.
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