President Obama Appoints Direct Relief COO Annie Maxwell a White House Fellow
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (June 26, 2009) - Annie Maxwell, Direct Relief International’s chief operating officer, has been appointed by President Barack Obama as one of 15 members of the 2009-2010 class of White House Fellows.
“We have the pleasure of seeing Annie Maxwell’s enormous talent and intense dedication to public service every day at Direct Relief, so of course we think President Obama has made a brilliant appointment,” said Direct Relief President and CEO Thomas Tighe.
As Chief Operating Officer of Direct Relief, Annie Maxwell oversees day-to-day activities of the organization. Maxwell joined the staff in 2002 as the chief policy analyst and subsequently led the organization’s strategic planning, information technology, and communications efforts as chief of staff during a period of tremendous expansion of the organization’s work.
From August 2005 to October 2006, Maxwell was seconded to the United Nation’s Office of the Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, led by Special Envoy President Bill Clinton. The Office was established to ensure the coordinated effort of all stakeholders in the tsunami recovery process. Maxwell served as Partnerships and Outreach Officer for the Office, focusing on environmental issues and the role of NGOs in the recovery effort.
Maxwell is a Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude graduate of University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, which she attended on a full athletic scholarship. She also earned her Master’s degree in public policy from Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy while still captaining the University of Michigan's women's Division I volleyball team. Maxwell serves as chair on the Alumni Board of Governors at the Ford School and is a member of the founding Board of Directors for Wizzy Digital, a nonprofit aimed at expanding the reach of the web in developing countries.
In December 2006, Maxwell was one of 57 Americans selected for the 2007 Marshall Memorial Fellowship, a program designed to educate the next generation of American and European leaders.
The White House statement announcing the appointment of this year’s class notes that the White House Fellows Program was created in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson to give promising American leaders "first hand, high-level experience with the workings of the Federal government, and to increase their sense of participation in national affairs." Since 1964, over 600 outstanding American men and women have participated in the White House Fellows program, each chosen because of their extraordinary leadership ability and service to others.
Selection as a White House Fellow is highly competitive and based on a record of remarkable professional achievement early in one’s career, evidence of leadership potential, a proven commitment to public service, and the knowledge and skills necessary to contribute successfully at the highest levels of the Federal government. Throughout its history, the program has fostered leaders in many fields including Admiral Dennis Blair, Director of National Intelligence, former Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, U.S. Representative Joe Barton, writer Doris Kearns Goodwin, former Travelocity CEO Michelle Peluso, former CNN Chairman and CEO Tom Johnson, former Univision President Luis Nogales, and U.S. Court of Appeals Judges M. Margaret McKeown and Deanell Tacha.
The White House announcement, including a full list of selected fellows, is available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Appoints-2009-2010-Class-of-White-House-Fellows-6-25-09/.
About Direct Relief International
Founded in 1948, Direct Relief International is a Santa Barbara, California–based nonprofit organization focused on improving the quality of life by bringing critically needed medicines and supplies to local healthcare providers worldwide. Direct Relief works in 59 countries and has delivered more than $1 billion in privately funded humanitarian medical aid to health professionals serving impoverished communities since 2000. Direct Relief is one of two charities ranked by Forbes that has received a perfect fundraising efficiency score for seven consecutive years and is ranked by the Chronicle of Philanthropy as California’s largest international nonprofit organization based on private support. For more information, please visit www.DirectRelief.org.
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