Herbie Ziskend

Herbie Ziskend is an American political advisor and the White House Principal Deputy Communications Director in the Biden administration.^[3] He previously served as a communications advisor for Vice President Kamala Harris from 2021 to 2022, and as a policy and communications advisor to Vice President Joe Biden from 2009 to 2011.

Herbie Ziskend
White House Principal Deputy Communications Director
In office August 2024 – Present
President	Joe Biden
Director	Ben LaBolt
Preceded by	Kristen Orthman
Deputy Communications Director for the Vice President
In office January 20, 2021 – March 2022
Vice President	Kamala Harris
Succeeded by	Rachel Palermo
Senior Advisor for Communications for the Vice President
In office March 2022[1] – August 2022[2]
Vice President	Kamala Harris
Preceded by	Symone Sanders [lower-alpha 1]
Succeeded by	Stephanie Young[lower-alpha 2]
Personal details
Political party	Democratic
Education	Cornell University (BA)

Education

Ziskend earned a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University and is a Dubin Scholar at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.^[4]

Career

Obama administration

Ziskend was a campaign staffer on the Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign and later served as a policy and communications advisor to Vice President Joe Biden from 2009 to 2011.^[5]

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Ziskend, Eric Lesser and Arun Chaudhary organized a seder during the campaign.^[6] The tradition followed the Obama administration into the White House as the official White House Passover Seder.^[7]

After leaving the White House, Ziskend worked as chief of staff to Arianna Huffington at the Huffington Post Media Group in New York City, and as the director of public policy and rise of rest investments at Revolution LLC, an investment firm led by AOL co-founder Steve Case. Ziskend also worked as a senior vice president at SKDKnickerbocker.^[8][9]

Notes

1. As Senior Advisor & Chief Spokesperson for the Vice President
2. As Senior Advisor for Messaging & Outreach for the Vice President

References

1. Samuels, Brett (2022-03-23). "Harris brings on HHS staffer Kirsten Allen as press secretary". The Hill. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
2. Thompson, Alex; Tani, Max (2022-08-25). "West Wing Playbook: Mourning in America, a year later". Politico. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
3. Monica Alba (August 16, 2024). "White House plans staff moves as aides switch to Harris campaign". NBC News. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
4. Ziskend, Herbie (2016). "America Is Not in Decline, and Startups Are an Important Reason Why: A Case Study of Albuquerque, New Mexico (Innovations Case Narrative: Village Capital and Revolution LLC, the "Rise of the Rest")". Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization. 11 (1–2): 80–87. doi:10.1162/inov_a_00249. S2CID 57565914.
5. Parker, Ashley (30 April 2010). "All the Obama 20-Somethings". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
6. Girsky, Josh (28 April 2016). "After Nine Years, Cornell Alumni to Lead Last White House Seder". Cornell Sun. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
7. Eilperin, Juliet. "Passover Seder: One last time for an Obama White House tradition". Washington Post. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
8. Palmer, Anna; Sherman, Jake (29 December 2019). "POLITICO Playbook: Cuomo says 'hatred exploding' after stabbing at Hanukkah gathering". POLITICO. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
9. "Joe's age and experience gives him helpful perspective: Day 53 out of 100 days of Loving Joe Biden". Daily Kos. Retrieved 2020-11-11.