Kristina Schake to Join First Lady’s Office as Communications Director

The Office of the First Lady announced today that Kristina Schake will be joining the staff as Special Assistant to the President and Communications Director to the First Lady.  She will start in the East Wing in December, 2010.
 
“I’m thrilled to welcome Kristina to the team.  Kristina brings a wealth of expertise that I know will make her a tremendous asset in the East Wing,” said First Lady Michelle Obama.  “Kristina has done extensive work throughout her career on child nutrition and community health issues, and that paired with her experience as part of a military family will bring invaluable insight to our work on childhood obesity and our efforts to support military families.  I look forward to working with Kristina on these efforts and more in the months and years ahead.”
 
Kristina Schake is co-founder and principal of Griffin|Schake, a California-based public affairs and strategic communications firm.  She is a seasoned expert in helping major foundations, non-profit organizations and civic leaders bring about critical social change through policy, legislative, social marketing and media initiatives.  Ms. Schake served for several years as the senior communications strategist for First Lady Maria Shriver, the Women’s Conference and the California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities Initiative.   Ms. Schake and her company also helped make issues such as stem cell research and early childhood education a national priority and helped change California's political landscape on renewable energy and civil rights.  Before forming her firm, she was the Director of the Governor’s Summit on Obesity and the Communications Director for First 5 California, which provides education, health care, child care and nutrition programs for the state’s youngest children.  A native Californian, Kristina is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University.