Obama appoints Indian American to key White House post

Lalit K Jha

Washington, Feb 7 (PTI) US President Barack Obama has
appointed Indian-American Nicholas Rathod, who was part of his
15-member transition team, to a key White House post.

Rathod, 33, will serve as Deputy Associate Director of
the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. He worked as Director
of Intergovernmental Affairs for the Obama-Biden Transition
Project earlier.

Two other Deputy Associate Directors of the White House
Office of Intergovernmental Affairs -- Jodi Archambault
Gillette and Michael Blake – were also announced Friday.

"These individuals bring diverse experiences and a deep
passion for public service to my administration," Obama said,
adding: "I am confident that Jodi, Michael and Nick will be
valuable members of our team."

As one of the co-founders of South Asian for Obama
(SAFO), Rathod played a leading role in mobilising Indian
American community for the Democrat during the presidential
polls.

Rathod also worked as Deputy Director of Federal Affairs
Office for Governor David Paterson (NY) and Senior Manager of
State and Regional Affairs for the Center for American
Progress.

As a community organiser, Rathod has been organising
Washington's immigrant communities around language access
issues.

As a civil rights attorney, he represented minority
communities who were discriminated against in lending,
including a one billion dollar settlement on behalf of African
American farmers.

Rathod is the recipient of the Frederick B Abramson award
recognising Washington's top public interest attorneys and is
the 2005 National South Asian Bar Association's national
public interest attorney of the year.