Young people to watch in Washington

WASHINGTON – For Samir Mayekar, accepting a job as a White House staffer took some consideration – but not much.

Mayekar, a 25-year-old former Obama campaign worker, landed a gig coveted by a generation of young people just waking up to civic engagement and political action. President Barack Obama’s unprecedented mobilization of the 18- to 25-year-old set might have helped him get elected, but now thousands of former volunteers are looking take their newly-acquired skills to the national stage.

Mayekar was one of the lucky ones. The Katy, Texas native worked with Obama during the campaign with no plans to move onto the White House after the election. When he got the chance to continue with the administration, though, he found he couldn’t turn it down. He left behind a girlfriend and a sweet job for the call of public service.

Like thousands of others his age, Mayekar believes in helping Obama bring the change to the country.

With hundreds of young people waiting for a chance to get in the door, one who landed a must-have job shares his story in his own words on what it took to get there and what it means to work for this administration.

What attracted you to a White House job? Was it the Obama administration or the political sphere in general?

When I left the private sector to join the Obama campaign I never imagined I would be fortunate enough to work in the White House. Like everyone else who joined Obama for America, I gave up my previous career, because I believed in Senator Obama’s mission to bring change to this country. The campaign was a unique atmosphere in that most people I knew had no expectations about employment if we ended up winning - in fact, when I was interviewing for a job they made sure to dig deep and focus on what motivated me to join. We were all working to help Barack Obama become the 44th president and that was our only goal. By valuing efficiency over political maneuvering, our leadership set a new tone for presidential campaigns.

I was fortunate to receive an offer to come to D.C. to join the transition team on Nov. 5 - the day after the election. The details were murky and I had to make a decision between returning to my consulting firm (which had been the plan) or moving to D.C. for a job I knew next-to-nothing about. The decision was difficult since my girlfriend lived in Chicago, but we both understood the opportunity to serve was something I could not turn down. Joining the administration would offer an unparalleled learning experience, especially given the importance of the president's agenda, and it would help me evaluate if I should pursue a career in government service - something that has interested me since I first came to D.C. on a scholarship program with my congressman when I was in high school. I still feel lucky to have been chosen out of the amazing talent pool.

What were you doing before?

After I graduated from Northwestern University I was a management consultant with Marakon Associates in Chicago for almost two years, working with teams that advised large companies on corporate strategy. The skills I learned at Marakon helped me obtain a role as a budget manager at Obama for America, where I worked with a small team to help manage the financial strategy of the campaign. Whereas most campaigns have political hires complete budgeting, the OFA operations leadership recognized the value of private sector experience. The campaign hired a budget team comprised of former consultants and finance experts to handle the more than $600 million raised.

What do you think inspires young people to work for the administration?

I believe America's youth have felt left behind during in recent years and President Obama's renewed sense of hope and call for change resonated with us - a fact substantiated by the nearly 2-to-1 ratio by which younger voters favored then-candidate Obama. Our administration's emphasis on transparency and public service further motivated young people, who applied for jobs in droves on change.gov and now whitehouse.gov. Our generation wants to make an investment in America's future and many young people feel the best way they can have an impact is to join our administration by working in government or being involved in their local community.

What role do you think young people will have in politics under the Obama administration?

I believe youth is a critical element of change, and just as our campaign was staffed with people who were recent college graduates, our administration is calling on young people across the country to serve. My current role in the administration is to help fill the thousands of jobs vacated during the transition, and when we place recent college graduates in the administration we seek to place them with mentors to help build them into the next generation of leaders - future cabinet secretaries, entrepreneurs, members of Congress, community leaders, etc.