On February 8, President Joe Biden announced the promotion of Annie Tomasini (‘98) to the position of Deputy White House Chief of Staff.
Tomasini will be one of three Deputy Chiefs of Staff, serving along with Bruce Reed and Natilie Quillian. She will take over for outgoing Deputy Chief of Staff Jen O’Malley Dillon, who will be moving to President Biden’s reelection campaign.
Some of Tomasini’s new responsibilities will include supervision of the president’s schedule and overseeing the White House personnel and operations on the campus. Each Deputy Chief of Staff has their separate portfolio that helps to reduce the workload, carried by Chief of Staff Jeff Zients.
Prior to serving as Deputy Chief of Staff, Tomasini was the Director of Oval Office Operations. She ran the ins-and-outs of the office, including who went in and for how long.
Former Facing History teacher Ms. Judi Freeman shares how Tomasini approaches her job: “She’s somebody with seemingly endless energy. Her brain can juggle multiple issues at the same time, she’s a constant multi-tasker. The best part about [Tomasini] is that she does it with good humor, even though she works crazy hours.”
At Boston Latin School, Ms. Tomasini was the captain of both the swimming and basketball teams, in the Irish Historical Society, the History Club, the Key Club and Students Against Drunk Driving. She was also on the yearbook staff and the prom committee.
BLS Earth Science teacher Ms. Raquel Jacobson-Peregrino, who had Ms. Tomasini as a student in elementary school and at BLS, comments, “She had a lot of curiosity and a lot of spunk, […] she was a pretty amazing little kid.”
When she attended Boston University (BU), Ms. Tomasini was a guard on the women’s basketball team and averaged three points per game. Being on both the BLS and BU basketball teams helped her with valuable teamwork and organization skills that are necessary for managing one of the most powerful people in the world.
After graduating from BU in 2002, Tomasini became an executive assistant to Larry Rasky, a Biden confidant. Rasky pushed for her to be hired by then-Senator Biden for his 2008 presidential campaign, serving as his national deputy press secretary. Once Biden was elected Vice President, Tomasini joined him as his White House deputy press secretary.
Tomasini then worked at Harvard University for a couple of years, but later joined President Biden for his successful 2020 presidential campaign, serving as his traveling chief of staff. After he was elected, she joined him on his notable high-risk trip to Ukraine.
School Registrar Mr. James Lane, who was a classmate of Tomasini’s in elementary school, high school and college, shares, “I love telling people I know who she is and watching any presidential speeches to see if I can see her. […] She definitely remembers where she comes from and appreciates Boston, especially Latin School.”
