President-elect Joe Biden has named the first all-female communications team, led by former NBCU and MPA executive Kate Bedingfield as Communications Director.
Former Vice President Biden did not hide the historic move under a bushel basket. "“Communicating directly and truthfully to the American people is one of the most important duties of a President, and this team will be entrusted with the tremendous responsibility of connecting the American people to the White House," he said. "I am proud to announce today the first senior White House communications team comprised entirely of women. These qualified, experienced communicators bring diverse perspectives to their work and a shared commitment to building this country back better."
Bedingfield has been deputy campaign manager and communications director for the Biden campaign. She was tapped to be then-Vice President Joe Biden’s communications director in August 2015, coming to that post after several years as VP of the Motion Picture Association (MPA), where she was chief spokesperson for the then-MPA chairman and former U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, who himself had a campaign role helping Biden make his vice presidential picks.
After Biden left office and decided against a 2016 run for president, Bedingfield moved to Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the media company of former AOL executive Ted Leonsis, as vice president of communications.
Jen Psaki has been a member of the Biden-Harris transition team. She has been VP for communications and strategy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a familiar face on CNN as as commentator. She was a "traveling" press secretary for the Obama-Biden campaigns of 2008 and 2012 and was deputy press secretary of John Kerry's campaign in 2004.
Pili Tobar has been named deputy White House communications director. Tobar had been the communications director for coalitions in the Biden campaign and before that deputy director for America's Voice and HIspanic Media Director for Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
