The
City & State NY “Women in Government Talk Series” Juneteenth forum will explore what Juneteenth means at this very moment in history, and why there’s been a renewed interest as of recent years in the day that celebrates freedom. We’ll discuss its significance for women – particularly black women in government and the communities they serve. And we’ll celebrate the contributions and achievements of the women who are working diligently to promote the progression of our state government and whose impact is helping to protect the rights and liberties of all New Yorkers. Speakers
Chief Communications Officer, NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research
Natl. Dir., Dream Corps JUSTICE
James Baehr ’05 served as a Special Asst. to the Pres. in the Domestic Policy Council in the White House as the lead policy advisor on Veterans’ issues. He chaired Policy Coordinating Committees; drafted and edited executive orders, proclamations, reports, and policy documents (including the President’s plan to end Veteran suicide) and worked with Veterans’ Affairs Committees to pass legislation (including the Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act).
Baehr serves as a Major in the Marine Corps Reserves. In 2018, he activated & deployed to the Middle East for Operation Inherent Resolve, serving on the Command Staff as the Chief of the Joint Visitor’s Bureau, where he helped coordinate over 140 strategic messaging trips for key leaders to Iraq, Kuwait, & Syria on the campaign against ISIS. He previously led civil affairs teams on missions in Norway & the Dominican Republic.
President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate 11 members of his Administration to lead on national security and law enforcement at White House and across key agencies.
Christy Abizaid DOD
The President has tapped Christy Abizaid for Director of National Counterterrorism Center at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Chris Inglis for National Cyber Director in the Executive Office of the President, Christine Wormuth for Secretary of the Army at the Department of Defense, Gil Cisneros for Under Secretary of Defense, Personnel and Readiness at the Department of Defense, Anne Milgram for Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration at Department of Justice, Susanna Blume for Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation at the Department of Defense, Marcela Escobari for Assistant Administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean at USAID, C.S. Eliot Kang for Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Non-Proliferation at the Depa
By Lauren C. Williams
Apr 14, 2021
The White House announced its plan to nominate Christine Wormuth, the Pentagon’s former top policy official, to be the first woman as Army secretary.
Wormuth led the Biden-Harris defense agency review and was previously under secretary of defense for policy during the Obama administration from 2014 to 2016. She’s now the director of the RAND Corporation’s International Security and Defense Policy Center.
Wormuth, who has also served as senior director for defense policy on the National Security Council, is the first cabinet nomination for the military services for the Biden administration. If confirmed, she would be the Army’s first female secretary.
12 Apr 2021
Former California Democrat Rep. Gil Cisneros (D-CA) was nominated by President Joe Biden, Monday for under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness at the Department of Defense. The move comes as yet another setback for House Democrats, who had hoped he would as he had been signaling he might run for his old seat, which he lost in 2020 to a Republican.
In the position of under secretary, Cisneros’s responsibility will be “the principal staff assistant and advisor to the Secretary of Defense for force readiness; force management; health affairs.” He will also be responsible for “National Guard and Reserve component affairs; education and training; and military and civilian personnel requirements and management, including equal opportunity, morale, welfare, recreation, and quality of life matters,” according to the under secretary’s office.