Deesha Dyer (born 1978) is an American public servant who served as the White House Social Secretary for

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

from 2015 to 2017. Dyer also served as Deputy to the previous Social Secretary, Jeremy Bernard. She is currently the CEO of Hook & Fasten, a social-impact consulting company. She is a 2019 Resident Fellow for the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics. In 2024 she released her biography, "Undiplomatic: How My Attitude Created the Best Kind of Trouble".

Early life and education

Dyer grew up in

Hershey, Pennsylvania Hershey is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is home to the Hershey Company, which was founded by candy magnate Milton S. Hershey ...

and attended the Milton Hershey School, a boarding school founded by

The Hershey Company The Hershey Company, often called just Hershey or Hershey's, is an American multinational corporation, multinational confectionery company headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which is also home to Hersheypark and Hershey's Chocolate World. T ...

. She attended the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

, but later dropped out and enrolled in

Community College of Philadelphia The Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) is a public community college with campuses throughout Philadelphia. The college was founded in 1965 and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. It offers over 100 associate ...

where she earned an associate degree in women's studies.

Career

Before working at the White House she worked as the executive assistant at

PREIT PREIT is a privately held company that owns and develops shopping centers, mostly in the Mid-Atlantic states. The company was formerly known as Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust. History The company was founded by Sylvan M. Cohen (1914-2 ...

and a freelance writer at the Philadelphia Citypaper. She also started an

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

-awareness program, distributing fliers and condoms at local hip-hop clubs.

White House career

At age 31, her White House career began as an intern in the Office of Scheduling and Advance in Fall 2009. Following her internship, Dyer became associate director for scheduling correspondence and then was named hotel program director. In this role, she travelled with the president and first lady and planned lodging accommodations. She became deputy social secretary and was later promoted to special assistant to the president and social secretary, making her the Obama administration's fourth social secretary and the second of

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

descent. In 2018, she contributed a chapter to ''West Wingers: Stories from the Dream Chasers, Change Makers, and Hope Creators Inside the Obama White House'' recounting her experiences in the Obama White House.

Legacy

In 2019, Dyer created the Black Girl 44 Scholarship, which provides financial assistance to Black college women who are interning in politics or public service. The scholarship is housed through Impact of a Vote. The initiative, founded by Dyer, offers free workshops, newsletters, and job postings to help Black college students explore careers in politics and public service. She founded Hook & Fasten, a social social-impact consulting company, and serves as the CEO.

References

1978 births Living people Community College of Philadelphia alumni Milton Hershey School alumni Obama administration personnel Politicians from Philadelphia {{US-gov-bio-stub