As Chief Engagement Officer, Mike Strautmanis oversees community affairs and strategic partnerships for the Obama Foundation. This position finds him in constant dialogue with local Chicagoans who are looking to learn more about the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park and the Foundation’s mission to empower young leaders to give back to their communities.Before joining the Obama Foundation, Mike spent over a decade in Washington, D.C.—partnering with a diverse group of leaders and advocates to increase access to economic opportunity, strengthen the judicial system, and champion equity and inclusion in the White House, federal agencies, and Congress.He served in the Obama White House for four of those years as Chief of Staff to Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett in the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs. After President Obama’s first term, he joined the Walt Disney Company in Burbank, California, where he led an enterprise-wide initiative to consolidate, focus, and deepen the impact of Disney’s corporate social responsibility programs.Mike began his career in government working in the Office of General Counsel at the U.S. Agency for International Development. He did stints at the House of Representatives and American Association for Justice before joining then-Senator Obama’s congressional staff, campaign, and subsequent transition team.Mike received his bachelor’s degree from the College of Communications at the University of Illinois in 1991 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1994.