‘It’s an honor.’ Carver High grad lands job working in Biden administration
Carver High School graduate Kamau Marshall has landed a job in President Joe Biden’s administration.
The 34-year-old, who arrived in Columbus as a middle schooler and left for college, now serves as the Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Media and Public Affairs. The Office of the United States Trade Representative falls under the Executive Office of the President.
“I will be doing a lot of engagement when it comes to economics and trade nationwide and globally,” he told the Ledger-Enquirer this week ahead of Friday’s announcement. “It’s an honor and a privilege. It’s an honorable thing to be in his administration.”
Marshall previously served as a spokesperson and Senior Advisor for outreach and communications to the CEO and Co-Chairs for the 59th Presidential Inaugural Committee. During the 2020 presidential election, he worked as Biden’s Director of Strategic Communications.
A bulk of Marshall’s family lives in Atlanta, and he has some relatives in Dalton and Albany as well. In a previous interview the Ledger-Enquirer, he said that his time in Columbus influenced his path.
While his father preached from the pulpit of Beth Salem Presbyterian Church on St. Marys Road, Marshall developed his interests in leadership and media as a student at Rothschild Middle School and later Carver High School.
At Carver, Marshall had his first internships, working with radio station Foxie 105 and news station WRBL. Marshall then attended Texas Southern University, a historically Black college in Houston.
In 2012, Marshall worked as a field organizer in Texas and Nevada for President Barack Obama’s re-election bid.
Marshall also worked as African American media adviser and spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2018, alongside the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis. That year, Democrats gained a net total of 41 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Columbus was the foundation,” Marshall said in a January 2021 interview.
This story was originally published July 16, 2021 at 3:45 PM.